Wind warnings and watches for Whanganui, Taihape and South Taranaki

MetService has put strong wind warnings and watches in place for Whanganui, Taihape and South Taranaki. Photo / NZME

A weather system moving down from the north is bringing a wet and windy Friday to Whanganui with strong wind watches and warnings through Whanganui, Taihape and South Taranaki.

From noon until midnight on Friday, July 11, Whanganui and Taihape are under a strong wind watch with a moderate chance of it becoming an orange warning.

The wind may be at warning level in some places, MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said, but it was not expected to be frequent or widespread enough to upgrade the watch.

“There’s going to be some strong winds around through Friday,” he said.

“It just doesn’t look quite strong enough to reach those thresholds.”

For an orange warning, the winds must be expected to exceed 110km/h across a large area.

South Taranaki, south of the mountain, is under an orange strong wind warning from noon until 11pm on Friday, with winds expected to reach 120km/h.

MetService recommends securing items that could be picked up by strong winds.

Overall, Friday was “not looking very nice” with wet weather accompanying the strong winds.

“It looks like the rain will arrive more towards the afternoon but I wouldn’t count on it being a dry first part of the day,” Ferris said.

“The rain is coming in from the north so generally Whanganui is a little more sheltered but it looks like a case where it will make it over the hills and down into the coast, and there might even be some heavy rain in the mix.”

Things are set to slightly improve moving into the weekend, with the wind expected to calm while remaining “noticeable”.

“Once we get into Saturday, it’s not looking too bad, mainly fine with a chance of a shower before dawn and some northerly winds,” Ferris said.

On Sunday, Whanganui was forecast to have partly cloudy skies, more northerly winds and the odd shower.

“It’s not bad through the weekend proper but keep an eye on the forecast if you’re planning on getting out and about.”

From Friday to Sunday, temperatures were expected to remain around a high of 18C and a low of 10C, with a northerly weather system bringing warmer air.

“But when it’s cloudy and potentially raining through Friday, I think the warm wind is maybe a bit of icing without the cake,” Ferris said.

For updates, check metservice.com/warnings

Olivia Reid is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.