Heavy rain showers hit Auckland as seen in Newmarket. Photo / Dean Purcell
Heavy rain showers hit Auckland as seen in Newmarket. Photo / Dean Purcell
While New Zealanders got a taste of spring last week, today's weather has been anything but spring-like.
MetService forecaster Sonja Farmer says New Zealand is covered by "fairly scattered cloud, certainly cold showery-looking cloud", calling today's weather a "mixed bag".
"There has been a sweeping through of frontal activity todaywhich accounts for all those showers that have come through and that abrupt change," she said.
A strong wind watch remains in place for Auckland, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula and Waikato north of Hamilton. That watch is expected to lift later this evening.
Strong southwesterlies were expected in Auckland, with some gusts reaching 90km/h in exposed places.
SH1 AUCKLAND HARBOUR BRIDGE - 4:50PM Due to strong wind gusts, reduced speed limits are now in place on the Harbour Bridge. Extra care is required, especially for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles when traveling via the Auckland Harbour Bridge for essential journeys. ^MF pic.twitter.com/qJdbTeB2oa
— Waka Kotahi NZTA Auckland & Northland (@WakaKotahiAkNth) September 8, 2021
A transformer has blown in Beach Haven, leaving many residents on Auckland's North Shore without power.
Areas covered in orange are currently without power. Photo / Vector
Vector received reports of the outage at 8.38pm.
Although the country is in spring, Farmer said there was a "definitely chill" in the air across the country.
Auckland reached a high of 13C, 3C cooler than the regular spring temperature.
Earlier this afternoon Auckland dropped just below 11C.
Aucklanders had some rain today, but Farmer said it wasn't heavy.
The Arataki visitor centre in West Auckland recorded 19mm since midnight. But the majority fell between 8am and 3pm. Similar numbers were recorded across Auckland.
"It's been a fairly steady rainfall out that way," she said.
