Whanganui weather: What to expect this weekend

High winds, a low-pressure system and abnormally high ocean temperatures caused the week of persistent rain recorded in Whanganui, according to Niwa's Chris Brandolino. Photo / Bevan Conley

A calmer but wet weekend can be expected after high winds and thunderstorms hit Whanganui on Wednesday.

The city was battered by winds on Wednesday evening with gusts of up to 80km/h recorded at Whanganui Airport. Gusts of up to 90km/h were recorded in the greater Whanganui region, href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/metservice/" target="_self" rel="" title="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/metservice/">Metservice meteorologist Michael Pawley said.

About 5mm of rain fell per hour in the early evening, Pawley said.

Whanganui District Council received reports of trees and branches downed in Gonville, and heavy hail in Castlecliff.

Emergency manager at Whanganui District Council, Tim Crowe, said Powerco tended to a power pole issue on Seafront Rd.

There were no reports of surface flooding or infrastructure damage.

“A lot of those sort of rains, squalls, and bursts that went through, stopped before they caused any major issue,” Crowe said.

Whanganui residents can expect some reprieve going into the weekend.

“Nothing as rough as we had last night,” Crowe said.

Daytime highs are expected to be 13C on Friday, 14C on Saturday, and 16C on Sunday, with overnight lows of 6C on Friday, 9C on Saturday, 10C on Sunday.

Westerly winds are expected to bring some rain in the early morning on Friday but clear to partly cloudy by the evening.

“It’s not gonna be the best day for golfing for people,” Crowe said.

These conditions along with high westerly winds will likely continue into Saturday, mostly clearing up by Sunday, “but there might still be a few showers about”, Pawley said.

“These winds will be generating some waves… from the southwest."

The swell is expected to hit both sides of New Zealand but hitting the West Coast first.

“It looks like a windy weekend,” Pawley said.