MetService Severe weather - 12-14 June. Video / MetService
Stormy weather that has delivered tens of thousands of lightning strikes across the north this week is likely to continue through the weekend, as a large mudslide has closed part of a North Island highway this morning.
In contrast, snow-lovers are in luck in the south with perfect skiing weatherexpected as several large fields open for the season tomorrow.
A mudslide on State Highway 3 just before 5pm yesterday, along with smaller slips on the same road, needed clearing, NZTA wrote on X this morning.
“SH3 remains closed this morning south of Awakau Rd at Awakino in Taranaki ... contractors were on site at first light today assessing the situation and beginning the clean-up job.
“The road remains closed while assessments and debris clearing is ongoing. Contractors will also be clearing a number of smaller slips on SH3 between Tongapōrutu and Piopio, which came down in the wet weather overnight.”
NZTA recommended motorists detour via SH1, and wrote that SH4 between Whanganui and Raetihi was “open until further notice with delays of up to 30 minutes”.
UPDATE 8:20AM SH3 remains CLOSED and will likely remain closed for several hours slip assessment and ongoing debris clearing. Consider detouring via SH1. SH4 Whanganui to Raetihi is OPEN until further notice with delays of up to 30 minutes. ^EH https://t.co/nXo7V17T5u
— NZ Transport Agency - Central North Island (@nztacni) June 12, 2025
Volatile weather would continue in the north today and through the weekend, MetService head of news Heather Keats told Ryan Bridge on Herald NOW this morning.
“We’ve had a lot of thunderstorms this week – 37,000 lightning strikes since Monday. Only about 16% over land, but still, 37,000 is impressive.
“And those storms have produced waterspouts, tornadoes, heavy rain, strong winds and lightning and thunder. And we’re not quite out of the woods yet – we still have that risk today.”
“Then this weekend, what’s causing it – which is an unstable trough over the upper north – that’s gonna hang out … probably till Monday.
“So the north’s still got a bit of active weather coming.”
🌙 Night-time Weather Watch Here’s a side-by-side look at our Night Microphysics Satellite imagery and Rain Radar. The satellite view helps us spot cloud features in the dark. Deep red areas = showery weather. Bright yellow spots on those clouds? That’s where thunderstorms are… pic.twitter.com/OEk7guOQRi
Conditions were “not great” for Fieldays in Mystery Creek today, Keats said.
“There’s potentially still lots of heavy showers, Mystery Creek being in Waikato … [and] thunderstorms. Tomorrow’s looking much, much better.”
Weekend conditions were looking great for South Island skifields preparing to open, although rain and warmer temperatures scuppered first day plans at Mt Hutt today.
“Well … Mother Nature: 1 - Us: 0”, read a post on the skifield’s social media this morning.
“We were all geared up for an epic start, but the curse of opening on Friday the 13th has lived up to the hype … overnight we picked up 15cm of fresh snow (yes!), but early this morning the rain rolled in with warmer temps (nooo!).”
This caused the snowpack to become unstable, especially along the access road through the Bluffs.
“Our patrol teams flagged a high-risk zone, and we’ve made the tough call to close for the day … but hey, round two tomorrow, Mother Nature. We’re not done yet.”
Several South Island skifields are due to open for the season tomorrow, including Mt Hutt, Cardrona, The Remarkables and Coronet Peak.
Several other major South Island skifields are planning to open for the season tomorrow, including Cardrona, Coronet Peak and The Remarkables.
And the forecast for skiers and snowboarders was good, Keats told Herald NOW.
“The weekend weather for the South Island gets two thumbs up. Ridge of high pressure, pretty cold, but excellent ski weather. Just a little bit of fog in the valleys.”
Meanwhile, wet weather caused headaches for two households in Porirua overnight, with Fire and Emergency responding to two calls to help people with flooding in the city, north of Wellington.
Two properties in Lyttelton, near Christchurch, had to be evacuated late last night after a slip significantly damaged one, a Civil Defence duty officer told the Herald.
“This morning, geotechnical staff from the council will be assessing the situation”, the duty officer said.
Residents in two Lyttelton homes were evacuated last night after one was hit by a slip. No one was hurt in the incident. Photo / George Heard
MetService is forecasting scattered showers – some heavy, with possible thunderstorms – across much of the North Island this morning, except in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay, where showers are expected to spread north in the afternoon and evening.
It will also be wet in Nelson, Marlborough and Buller before showers clear later today, with mostly fine weather forecast across the rest of the South Island.
The country was in for generally settled weather this weekend, albeit with another cold blast, although not as severe as last weekend, MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said.
“We will very likely be dipping back down into temperatures below freezing in some places, especially Canterbury and parts of Otago.”
The North Island was likely to continue getting periods of rain across several regions.
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
