The South Island is being battered by heavy rain and strong winds as forecasters warn areas that are already waterlogged are in the firing line again. Photo / Doug Sherring
The South Island is being battered by heavy rain and strong winds as forecasters warn areas that are already waterlogged are in the firing line again. Photo / Doug Sherring
Bursts of thunder and flashes of lightning are keeping the skies over parts of the North Island busy this afternoon - as thunderstorms rattling parts of the South Island track north.
The line of showers soaking Auckland, particularly northern parts of the city, were accompanied by thunder and lightning.
Current views above Auckland! 🌧️
There have been several lightning strikes around the eastern part of the region ⚡ pic.twitter.com/Ry1owm0MRW
MetServicehas issued a "severe thunderstorm watch" for western parts of the North Island until 8pm tonight - with Waikato, Waitomo, Taumarunui, Taranaki, Taihape and Wanganui in the storm's path.
The thunderstorms were set to bring hail, localised heavy rain and strong winds that could reach up to 110km/h.
Wind gusts could turn severe, MetService warned, producing damaging winds gusts and possibly impacting trees, powerlines and making driving hazardous.
A heavy rain warning is in place for the Bay of Plenty, including Rotorua, until 4pm, with surface flooding, slips and rapidly rising streams and rivers possible.
Severe winds are forecast in Gisborne and Hawke's Bay between Wairoa and Muriwai, and including Mahia Peninsula, with gusts reaching 120km/h in exposed places.
⚡ Flashes and Booms ⚡
A line thunderstorms has moved onto Buller, while another is headed for the west coast of the North Island this afternoon.
The South Island has been battered by heavy rain and strong winds as forecasters warn areas that were already waterlogged were in the firing line again.
The wild weather has closed a number of roads in the Tasman district - including Tākaka Hill, which was now closed due to a slip.
The clean-up was expected to take around three hours.
SH60 TĀKAKA HILL, TASMAN - SLIP - 4PM Due to a slip within the worksite on Tākaka Hill, the state highway is CLOSED. Contractors on site are working to clear the slip. Please DELAY your journey as there is no detour available. ^AL pic.twitter.com/d0LQWHZIMZ
— Waka Kotahi NZTA Top of the South (@WakaKotahiTotS) July 26, 2021
A council spokesperson said wastewater and stormwater systems were also under pressure so residents should treat all water with caution and not collect shellfish at this time.
Please be kind out there Tasman! We've had reports of our traffic controllers being abused for not letting vehicles through closed roads. There's trees down, rockfall, slips and flooding across our region, which means some roads have been closed to protect you and your community. pic.twitter.com/5igjlplqKO
Heavy rain is due for inland Marlborough, the Tasman district and parts of Buller, where the ground's already saturated.
The Marlborough Emergency Operations Centre say it is keeping an eye on the weather system
"Our emergency response teams will continue to monitor already compromised areas and we will continue to liaise with MetService and Niwa for the latest weather information," incident controller Dean Heiford said.
Torrential rain in the region last week saw the Buller River topping its banks and flooding Westport. The "one-in-100-year" flood event left many people homeless, and more than 100 homes unliveable.
Niwa is forecasting "extremely high river flows" in response to the forecast heavy rain over the top of the South Island and is warning people to never drive through floodwaters.
The incoming poor weather is due to an active front that would hit Fiordland and the West Coast before moving up over the top of the South Island overnight, Corrigan said.
Strong wind watches are also in place for much of the North Island, Banks Peninsula and the Canterbury high country on Monday.
MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan said most of the country would be affected to some extent.
