Severe Weather: Widespread Warnings Like Weekend Weather Bomb

The entire country is under a blanket of weather warnings and watches as one of the worst storms of the decade prepares to wreak havoc this weekend.

In what is forecast to be a potentially destructive weather bomb, strong hurricane winds and heavy rains are at stake.

Severe weather warnings and alerts issued by MetService show that almost every part of the country is colored yellow or orange.

Weather authorities are calling it a “significant weather event” for the entire country as an active and complex low-pressure system drifts east of New Zealand this weekend.

In Auckland, sandbags and weights have been placed in temporary road cones along the harbor bridge, which still has lanes closed after an accident.

The Transportation Authority says it will slow down, close more lanes “or even close the bridge if necessary.”

“Safety is our top priority,” says Transportation Services General Manager Brett Gliddon.

“Drivers are urged to stay within the posted speed limit when crossing the bridge, avoid changing lanes and not be distracted.

“We have cranes positioned at the approaches to the bridge to respond quickly to crashes and breakdowns, but any vehicle that stops at the bridge will cause a major disruption that can quickly spread throughout the network.”

There are heavy rain advisories for Westland around and south of Otirā, where people are told to expect 100mm to 130mm of rain to accumulate near the ranges and 70mm to 90mm near the coast. There is also the possibility of thunderstorms.

Locals are warned that heavy rains can cause streams and rivers to grow rapidly and that surface flooding and landslides could occur as a result.

“Driving conditions can be dangerous,” read an alert.

High wind warnings have been issued in Wairarapa, not including the Tararua district, Wellington, where northwestern gales are forecast to reach 130 km / h.

WeatherWatch said a weather bomb is likely to form over the Southern Ocean this weekend, as air pressure plummets from around 980 hPa on Saturday to 930 hPa on Monday.

MetService has released a graph detailing exactly how bad the weather is forecasting, and the average forecast models for Sunday appear to be one of the worst storms since at least 2014.

The weekend’s weather bomb falls just above a storm in November 2018, when roads were closed on the West Coast due to flooding.

It falls just below another major weather event in May 2014, when 4,500 homes were without power and there was massive amounts of snow in Queenstown.

The winds should arrive early Sunday morning, MetService said.

Canterbury High Country is also on alert for a strong wind warning and gusts are expected to hit the 120km / h mark.

Meanwhile, there are heavy rain alerts for areas including the eastern Bay of Plenty mountain ranges, Mount Taranaki, Nelson around and west of Tākaka, Buller, Westland north of Otirā, Tararua Range, Richmond Range, including the Rai Valley and Fiordland.

People in Clutha, Central Otago south of Alexandra, Southland, Fiordland and Stewart Island are being told to keep up with the weather conditions as there is currently a heavy snow watch.

While a strong wind watch was issued for parts of the South Island including Christchurch, Central Otago, Southern Lakes, Fiordland, Southland and Stewart Island, North Taranaki to the East Cape and northward, Hawke’s Bay south of Hastings and Tararua District and Marlborough.