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Gusts of more than 100 km / h were felt on both the northern and southern islands when a stormy front swept through New Zealand this weekend.
While the strongest gusts of wind were felt Sunday, MetService forecaster Paul Ngamanu said the front will bring a drop in temperatures, making for a chilly start to the week.
Areas that withstood the brunt of the high winds included Fiordland with gusts of 155km / h.
METSERVICE
MetService’s highest observed wind gusts on Sunday.
Wellington also saw winds of up to 135km / h and gusts at Manukau Heads in Auckland reached 130km / h.
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“The winds will start to drop overnight,” Ngamanu said, “but as they subside, the country will see a drop in temperatures.”
The South Island could expect to feel cooler temperatures overnight and Monday morning, while the coldest days for the North Island were expected on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Snowfall warnings were in effect for several roads on the South Island and a heavy snow watch for Fiordland, Clutha, downtown Otago and Southland overnight and Monday morning. Some areas could see snow down to sea level.
Nelson, west of Motueka, Buller and Westland north of Arthur’s Pass were also under heavy snow watch from Monday night through Tuesday morning.
Snow would also be possible on the North Island, Ngamanu said, in the hills around Welllington and on Desert Rd.
In Auckland, the Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency urged motorists to exercise caution when crossing the damaged Harbor Bridge on Monday and Tuesday as wind gusts of 80km / h were forecast.
The city experienced a comfortable high of 20 degrees Celsius on Sunday, but Ngamanu said the maximum on Wednesday would be just 14 degrees Celsius.
MetService meteorologist Karl Loots said Wellington and the Wairarapa region would be hit by northwesterly gales from noon Monday through late afternoon, and a period of heavy rain was also expected.
But there would be some relief from the wind on Tuesday compared to Monday, and the weather will improve on Wednesday and Thursday, he said.
People living in Hawke’s Bay would also be affected by wind gusts from the northwest, but the weather would be “predominantly good” with the possibility of some rain, he said.
In a statement, the Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office (WREMO) said large swells were expected for Wellington and Wairarapa on Monday.
Waves of up to 4 meters in height were expected Tuesday night, finally declining to 3.5m on Wednesday before declining further later in the week.
An alert for large swells was also set between Paekākāriki and Raumati South, as there was a forecast for northwesterly swells that would reach between 3 and 3.5 m in height, WREMO said.
The storm surge was expected to rise to 4.45m Monday afternoon before subsiding Monday night.
There were several reports of downed trees in the Wellington region overnight from Saturday to Sunday.
A Central Area Fire and Emergency spokesperson said it had received about 20 weather-related calls in Wellington on Sunday. There was no significant damage, but trees had fallen and some power lines were down, the spokesperson said.
A police spokeswoman said there had been damage to a sign for State Highway 1 near Paekākāriki.
Fire and Emergency spokesman Andrew Norris said crews had been called in for about 10 weather-related jobs across the South Island. He said they were all minor jobs and mostly related to loose roofs or damage to power lines.
Orion, the Christchurch power provider, reported five outages due to “trees / vegetation in the lines” on its website. All outages were fixed by 6.25pm
The end of the week seemed calmer, Ngamanu said, with the weather improving on Thursday.
