Winter hits city hard over weekend

GOING UNDER: Mowhanau resident John Carson took this photo on Sunday of Archer's Bridge being swamped by the swollen Kai Iwi Stream. Whanganui District Council staff were due to check the bridge yesterday afternoon.PHOTO/ SUPPLIED

Winter arrived with a vengeance in Whanganui over the weekend.

Strong winds, heavy rain, low temperatures and even thunder hung around Whanganui for most of the weekend.

Between Friday and Sunday, 16.8mm of rain fell in Whanganui. Temperatures didn't rise above 15C over the weekend, and winds of up to 70km/h hit the city.

However, it seemed that Whanganui escaped any damage from the weather.

Whanganui District Council infrastructure staff said there had been no reports of damage in the district, although staff were due to check the condition of Archer's Bridge at Mowhanau.

The Whanganui River had a sharp influx of water yesterday afternoon, to just over 4m, but the river dropped just as quickly.

If you were reluctant to get out of bed yesterday morning that was probably because it was the coldest morning of the year so far. The temperature dipped to a chilly 3C in the early hours of the morning, before rising to around 14C at midday.

While such weather is not unusual for Whanganui at this time of the year, it comes after an exceptionally mild autumn.

In April and early May, Whanganui's high temperatures frequently topped 20C.

MetService has warned of more bad weather to come for Whanganui this week. Forecaster Ciaran Doolin said today a front was expected to sweep in from the Tasman Sea bringing strong winds, rain and possible thunderstorms to western areas.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the west coast of the North Island can expect heavy sea swells, peaking at 5m on Wednesday. Mr Doolin said a "significant" low pressure system would arrive in central New Zealand on Saturday, bringing strong gales and heavy rain to most of the North Island.

This week temperatures are likely to reach 17C during the day, and drop to about 10C overnight.