Wild Weather: Warnings and watches remain in place for wind and rain in most parts of the country

Severe storms caused flight cancellations, road closures and power outages across much of the country Sunday and into Monday morning.

Much of the South Island and lower North Island have been placed under strong wind warnings or advisories.

The storm forced the cancellation of ferry flights, and strong winds in Wellington prevented planes from landing at the airport from around 5.30pm on Sunday, causing a number of cancellations and delays.

MetService data showed that a gust of 246.3 kilometers per hour was recorded just before 9pm on Sunday at Cape Turnagin, south of Burangahau in the eastern North Island, where sustained winds of 192.6 kilometers per hour were measured.

In Wellington, wind speeds reached 130-140 kilometers per hour, and at Rimutaka Hill, wind speeds reached 185 kilometers per hour.

Emergency services received several calls today regarding trees and vehicles falling due to the wind, with fire station alarms being raised repeatedly during the afternoon and evening in some areas.

MetService has warned people to stay informed of the forecast (MetService warnings can be found here).

Air New Zealand has canceled all flights to Wellington for the rest of Sunday, according to its website.

In the North Island, Wellington, the Tararua region, parts of the Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay are under an orange wind warning until Monday morning.

In the South Island, an orange wind warning has been issued for Marlborough until 10pm, and Marlborough Sound, Clutha, Southland, Stewart Island and Fiordland south of Milford Sound, until Monday.

Waka Kotahi said State Highway 2 was closed over Rimutaka Hill between Featherstone and Kaitoki due to strong winds.

A large macrocarpa tree fell on Manly Street in Paraparaumu Beach during the storm.
picture: RNZ/Michael Kropp

road Interislander ferry flights were canceled on Sunday due to extreme conditions.

But Bluebridge Ferries was due to continue sailings into the early hours of Monday morning after previous weather cancellations, but warned it would be difficult and could take longer.

In Mount Cook National Park at Mueller Hut, a gust of 199 kilometers per hour was reported, the strongest in three years, the agency said.

There were also reports of vehicles being affected by strong winds.

Police responded to reports of a crash on Mount Cook Road, where an RV rolled into a ditch about 1:50pm, and another crash where a caravan fell onto a bank on the Tekapo-Twizel Road about 1:45pm. No serious injuries were reported.

Severe storms that hit Wellington prevented planes from landing at the airport.

A Wellington Airport spokesman said the plane had been unable to land since about 5.30pm on Sunday, due to strong winds.

It’s very windy here in Wellington! Planes are unable to land at present due to winds. Passengers are advised to check directly with their airline for flight status.

– Wellington Airport (@WLGAirport) September 17, 2023

They said passengers should check the status of their flights with their airlines.

A number of flights to and from Wellington have been delayed or cancelled.

Christchurch was under a strong wind watch until 8pm on Sunday.

A number of flights to Christchurch were also listed as delayed or canceled on the Christchurch Airport website.

Blackouts

Strong winds caused power outages to many homes in a few areas as strong winds hit parts of the country.

The Wellington Electricity Company said that power was cut to thousands of properties in Wellington on Sunday.

By 10pm on Sunday, the largest of these faults had been repaired, with power restored to about 6,000 properties in the Hutt Valley, leaving about 1,000 properties without power until late into the night.

But by 11pm, the number of homes without power had returned to 3,000.

Powerco said the worst affected areas included New Plymouth, Wairarapa and Mount Maunganui.

By 10pm on Sunday, the outage map showed just over 3,800 outages, but by 11pm the number had dropped in the dark to less than 3,000.

The storm is disrupting ferries and roads, and strong winds are expected on Monday

said Duncan Roy, General Manager of Interislander Operations leader It remained in place in Cook Strait, rather than anchoring in Wellington Harbor overnight from Saturday night to Sunday, due to high winds in the area.

since then, leader has returned, and checker The ferry, which was in Wellington, left at 8.45am on Sunday.

MetService also had a severe swell warning for the Kāpiti-Porilua Coast – from Otaki to Cape Terawhiti.

Police have warned drivers traveling on motorcycles or high-G vehicles to be careful during strong winds, especially on the Manawatu, Whanganui-Ruapehu and Taranaki roads.

“Drive into conditions, stop and wait if you feel unsafe.”

SH2 Rimutaka Hill – Strong Winds – 4:15 PM
Due to strong winds, the road is now closed between Featherstone and Kaitoki. This decision has been made for safety reasons and will be monitored and reviewed on an ongoing basis. Please delay your flight or detour via the Paihiatua Trail. ^Eh pic.twitter.com/0fmtEtVRbq

– Waka One NZTA Wellington (@WakaOneTahiWgtn) September 17, 2023

People reported fallen trees across the SH1 in Himatangi, north of Foxton, on Manly Street in Paraparaumu Beach and across the entrance to the Northland Tunnel in Wellington, on Raroa Road. Election banners were reportedly torn by the wind and thrown in many places.

Wind speeds were expected to reach 130 kilometers per hour in Wellington, and by Sunday evening, MetService meteorologist Alec Holden said they had been recorded at between 130 and 140 kilometers per hour.

“Having walked it myself, I can confirm that I experienced a few typical Wellington pauses as the wind picked up.”

Meteorologists don’t expect the winds to die down until at least the early hours of Monday morning, and a cold front is slowly moving across the country, Holden said.

Heavy rain warnings were issued on Sunday for Canterbury, Westland and Fiordland, with heavy rain watches issued for most parts of Otago.

“A series of fast-moving fronts are affecting much of the country over the forecast period, bringing rain to western parts of central and southern New Zealand and westerlies to the northwest in many places – severe weather warnings and watches are in effect in a number of areas.” “, said MetService.

A strong spring weather system is affecting the country this weekend, with heavy rain and severe storms expected over a wide area of ​​southern and central New Zealand.
The latest watches and warnings have been issued. The image below shows the overview, but for more details… pic.twitter.com/MSUCa0mMqD

— MetService (@MetService) September 15, 2023

Fire in Canterbury

Earlier, strong winds hampered efforts to extinguish a vegetation fire in Culverden, North Canterbury.

Fire and Emergency Services were called to the scene at Bahau Downs at 5am on Sunday.

The fire reached about 150 meters in a gully and destroyed an old shed, but was contained.

Hurunui Mayor Mary Black said crews were working hard.

“We still had high winds, but we had a little bit of rain…no westerly rain which might ease the situation, but it was pretty intense all night.”

Crews from surrounding areas, including Hurunui, also arrived to assist. It is not known how the fire broke out.

Meanwhile, the Fire and Emergency Department warned people to be careful when carrying out burning operations in pastures and plants due to strong winds.

On Thursday, a helicopter was needed to combat out-of-control burns near Cheviot in Canterbury, and in Clutha in Otago, a vegetation fire broke out when the flames flared up again.

A restricted fire season has already been declared in the Upper Waitaki and Central Otago fire zones.

Fire permits in those areas have been suspended until Monday, due to the extremely high fire danger at this time.