This didn’t last, however, as wind speeds picked back up in early on Friday morning. The weather station at Whanganui Airport recorded gusts of more than 70km/h.
Wotherspoon said this was due to the weather system causing heavy downpours of rain further north.
“We’ve got this really broad low that’s over the upper North Island right now and it’s bringing some really quite strong easterlies and heavy rain to those northern and eastern areas.
“The winds are really spreading across pretty much the whole North Island and upper South Island.”
The winds were expected to continue into the weekend with the Whanganui region included in a strong wind watch, with winds potentially getting as strong as 90km/h.
It was expected to be a cloudy two days, with showery periods expected on Saturday and Sunday. However, the region would miss the heavy rain expected for parts of the north and the east coast.
“It’s good to be in the west with this kind of system, at least rain-wise, although expect some pretty strong winds,” Wotherspoon said.
Temperatures would drop back to what was expected for this time of year, with daytime highs of 14C and overnight lows between 7C and 8C.
Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.
