An emergency operations centre has been activated by the Grey District Council this afternoon as heavy rain lashes parts of the South Island.
Watches and warnings are in place for Tararua, Wellington, Buller, Tasman and Canterbury. Several areas were still under heavy rain or strong wind alerts until Saturday or Sunday.
In a post to social media this afternoon, Grey District Council said it had activated an emergency operations centre and urged people to “stay out of floodwaters, and avoid non-essential travel”.
“Floodwaters are rising quickly so plan for getting home today. We are watching Atarau, Dobson, Moana, Stillwater, Ahaura closely,” it said.
“There has been a lot of heavy rain in the backcountry and rivers are still rising.”
Earlier this morning, MetService meteorologist Heather Keats told Breakfast that wet and windy weather in the South Island was likely to continue to today as a “moist northwest flow” with a few fronts tracked up the country.
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Keats said areas including the Tararua Range and Buller District were under rain warnings until 2am Sunday, so they were the areas to “keep an eye on”.
Slips, flooding prompts road closures – NZTA
New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) said heavy rain had caused slips and flooding on parts of State Highway 7, 73,6 and 67 on the West Coast this morning.
On State Highway 7, road users were warned to take extra care when travelling between Lewis Pass and Springs Junction, and between Reefton and Ikamatua.
On State Highway 73 between Arthur’s Pass Village and Kumara Junction, extra care was urged because of flooding and slips.
“There have also been rockfalls on State Highway 6 near Meybile Bay, north of Punakaiki,” an NZTA spokesperson said.
Iveagh Bay Underpass was currently flooded, while Springs Junction to Reefton was closed.
Temperatures soar
MetService meteorologist Heather Keats said there would be “hot” October temperatures for some parts of the country, and rain for others. (Source: Breakfast)
It the North Island it was an entirely different picture, with temperatures soaring into the high 20s for some places.
Napier and Hastings were expected to reach 27C and 28C respectively. Christchurch, Kaikōura and Blenheim were all anticipated to reach 23C to 24C too.
MetService meteorologist Heather Keats earlier told Breakfast that despite rain warnings persisting for some areas, there would be “pockets of really nice weather” for others, including Auckland, over the weekend.
“The next couple of days there for the whole Hawke’s Bay, 27C tomorrow, 26C on Sunday and those overnight lows to a really, really mild, well above average.
“Christchurch will be 23C today and 25C tomorrow, so that’s really lovely too.
“Dunedin, 22C today, 24C tomorrow.
“And those places that are seeing really warm daytime temperatures in the east will have those really warm overnight lows.”
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She said temperatures is the North Island had remained “pretty mild too”.
“I mean, Auckland will be 22C today and for the next couple of days as well. And again, some of those overnight temperatures will be quite muggy too, because it’s coming down from the northwest.
“But I think if we’re thinking best places to be this weekend, I think Auckland might take that, well, at least tomorrow, which is, it’s rare for me to say that.”
Kiwis were urged to make the most of the good weather as next week temperatures would return back to “more average” spring temperatures.
Full list of watches and warnings
Heavy Rain Warning – Orange
Tararua Range – 52 hours from 2pm today until 6pm Sunday.
Buller District – 29 hours from 9am today until 2pm Saturday.
Grey District – five hours from 9am until 2pm today.
Headwaters of the Canterbury lakes and rivers north of about the Hurunui River – five hours from 9am until 2pm today.
Strong Wind Warning – Orange
Wellington and Wairarapa, excluding the Tararua District – 17 hours from 9am today until 2am Saturday.
Canterbury High Country north of the Waimakariri River – four hours from 9am until 1pm today.
Heavy Rain Watch
Tasman District west of Takaka – 37 hours from 9pm today until 10am Sunday.
Nelson Lakes – 30 hours from 9am today until 3pm Saturday.
Strong Wind Watch
Tararua District – 37 hours from 9am today until 10pm Saturday.
Marlborough – five hours from 9am until 2pm today.
