Wild weather continues to lash parts of the country following a night of heavy rain.
Orange heavy rain warnings were in place for many regions until 1pm on Friday, with more than a month’s worth of rainfall set to hit some areas.
Off the coast of Auckland, a stranded sailor needed to be rescued overnight as conditions on the water worsened.
Potential flooding in the Far North has prompted a warning from transport authorities to drive with care.
MetService meteorologist Heather Keats said overnight “the most significant rainfall fell in the areas that we expected it to, which was Tasman especially or west of Motueka”.
“Looking at the data this morning over the last 24 hours, the ranges got up to around 350mm of rain,” she told Breakfast.
Keats said Nelson got at least a month’s worth of rainfall in the last 24 hours.
“For April, Nelson has about 68mm. They had 75mm, so a lot of rain and it is still falling now.”
MetService meteorologist Heather Keats said it would be “another significantly wet day” across the country as the weather system continued to move north. (Source: Breakfast)
In an update shortly after 6am, Nelson Tasman Civil Defence said there has been “significant rainfall across the region”, especially in the Golden Bay area overnight.
“In the past 48 hours, upwards of 400mm has fallen in the Golden Bay areas of Anatoki and Canaan Downs (just east of Harwoods Hole), with heavy intensities (30mm/h).
The council said slips could have occurred on the roads, and assessments would be carried out.
“There is surface flooding across the region. Several rivers have reached annual flood levels. We are watching the situation, and resources are on standby if required,” it said.
“We will continue to see rainfall throughout the day (Friday). Rivers and streams can rise rapidly. Please take care around these areas, and avoid them if possible. Treat any flood waters as contaminated.”
Keats said many other parts of New Zealand had lots of rain last night, including Auckland and Northland.
“Heavy rain, which we are not used to and for parts of Auckland between 25mm and 45mm in the last 24 hours, and there’s still a whole heap to come now.”
Keats said Canterbury high country received the strongest wind gusts topping 160km/h, but said those winds would strengthen this morning especially in South Taranaki.
“We’ve got that low spinning out now very much underneath the South Island, and we’ve got a whole bunch of associated fronts. So lots of rain today as it tracks from west to east.”
Stranded sailor rescued in rough conditions
At 11.45pm, Coastguard volunteers on the Hibiscus Coast in northern Auckland received a call from a sailor at Tindalls Beach.
Due to the deteriorating weather conditions, he had been unable to return to his yacht, leaving his partner alone aboard the ship with no means of escape.
Coastguard faced three-metre swells and 40-knot northeasterly gusts as they made their way along the Whangaparāoa Passage.
“A trip that would normally take just 20 minutes took over an hour due to the extreme conditions,” a Coastguard spokesperson said.
Volunteers successfully transferred the woman onto the rescue vessel, describing her as “quite distressed” but not needing medical attention.
“The return trip proved equally gruelling, with rough seas taking a toll on both the yachtie and some of the crew.”
The volunteers safely returned to shore at 3.30am.
“This was a challenging rescue in tough conditions, but we know the capability of our crew and our rescue vessel,” Coastguard Hibiscus skipper Reg Werner said.
He reminded boaties to check the conditions before hitting the water and to ensure they always had reliable means of communication on board in case of emergencies.
Truck carrying chlorine breaks down in Bay of Plenty
Police said a truck understood to be carrying chlorine had broken down on State Highway 29 over the Kaimai Range, closing the road.
“The truck is understood to contain chlorine, which is reacting due to the inclement weather.”
The breakdown happened shortly before 10am between the intersections of Soldiers Road and Valley View Road. Motorists were asked to delay travel or follow indicated diversions.
Tasman District Council gives rainfall update
In an early morning update, Tasman District Council provided rainfall and river flow figures from the Environmental Science team.
It said some Golden Bay rainfall sites have had the following amounts:
- Anatoki at Happy Sams: 423mm
- Anatoki at Paradise: 397mm
- Waingaro at Hanging Rock: 307mm
- Aorere at Perry Saddle: 309mm
“On top of what rainfall has already fallen, we are expecting another 50mm to 90mm up until 11am this morning.
Higher intensities may be up to 20mm/h. The larger Golden Bay rivers peaked late last night at flows below an annual flood. East of Tākaka at Canaan received 419mm and the highest rainfall intensities of around 30mm/h for several hours.
“The Motueka and Riwaka Valleys have had substantially less rain (less than 100mm), therefore river flows are predicted to be well below annual flood flows and peaking around midday today.”
In the Richmond ranges south of Nelson, there has been around 153 mm up the Lee and Roding catchments. Another 60mm to 100 mm is forecasted this morning with possible intensities up to 20 mm/hr. Wairoa flows peaked early this morning, but with the forecasted rain still to come, there will be a similar second peak later this morning. Peak flow is less than an annual flood.
In the hills behind Nelson, there has been 230mm up the Brook at Third House and 223mm at the Maitai Dam. Expect another 60mm this morning on top of what we have already had, with intensities at around 10-13mm/hr.
While the Maitai peaked early this morning at an annual flood flow, there will be a second peak associated with the additional rain around mid-morning again at approximately the same flow as before.
“So the weather has pretty much played out as forecasted so far, with flows at annual flood or less. While we do have some more rain coming with moderate intensities (as forecasted), the flows are still going to be around or less than annual flood.”
‘Isolated power outages’ in Northland
In an update to social media, Northland Civil Defence said the region received “some decent rainfall” overnight, with the most intense rain occurring early this morning.
“The largest accumulations have been in the top eastern areas of the region, with some places receiving over 100mm.
It said currently there were no reported road closures or rivers of concern, “although some rivers in the far north are running high”.
Motorists travelling on State Highway 10 at Kaeo in the Far North were asked to “drive with care” as low-level areas of the road were expected to flood.
“Where possible, people are asked to delay unnecessary travel and, if they must travel, to expect the unexpected and remain alert,” NZTA said in a statement.
“Please be mindful of contractors who could be out clearing hazards off the road and drive slowly through work sites.”
“This morning, a few areas are experiencing isolated power outages, but these are expected to be resolved later today.
“More rain is forecast, and the warning remains in effect until 1pm today. However, we are starting to see the rain ease and move away from parts of the region.”
