Respite between wet and wild weather

Operators could open skifields early after solid snowfalls. Photo / Mike Smith

As Bay of Plenty residents recovered from the freak hail storm that collapsed roofs, cut power, shut a school and closed roads, the rest of the country yesterday held its breath for more bad weather to come.

Hail and thunderstorms were forecast to lash the North Island within the next few days but Weather Watch Centre analyst Philip Duncan said yesterday looked much quieter than Monday, with the low that hit Tauranga "churning away west of Hamilton".

"There's still some heavy showers, possibly some with hail and thunder, but I doubt we're in for a repeat of yesterday's rare storm."

The low had stalled over the Waikato before slowly tracking east back towards the Bay of Plenty where it was expected to die.

A band of heavy rain lay within a 200km radius of the low's centre bringing wet weather north of Auckland, across parts of the Central Plateau and off the Taranaki coast.

About 2500 lightning strikes were detected around the North Island yesterday but almost all were offshore.

The low is part of a larger pool of low air pressure which has been dubbed the 7-day low by the centre. Today is day six of the low and stormy weather over the North Island is expected to ease significantly.

The low is predicted to completely clear the country by tomorrow followed by another deep low, this time south of New Zealand.

Gales from the second low are possible from Wellington southwards.

The MetService says a high of 16C is expected in Auckland today while the rest of the week temperatures will be up to 18C.

Hamilton and Tauranga will experience similar highs, while Wellington will be cooler, with highs of 15C.

Meanwhile, commercial skifield operators are talking about starting the season next month with exceptionally early and heavy snowfalls that have arrived in the past fortnight.

And if the weather clears, Manganui Ski Field on Mt Taranaki may open today.

The mountain had a snow base of up to 50cm, enough for the Stratford Mountain Club to open the lower and learner's slopes and t-bar, said club safety services convener Todd Cations-Velvin.

With heavy snowfalls sweeping across the South Island at the weekend, operators were looking at what was involved in bringing forward their planned season opening dates.

In Canterbury, Porter Heights general manager Uli Dinsenbacher said there was 40cm of snow in the car park and 1.5m at the top of the mountain. The skifield is looking at opening on June 26.

Mr Dinsenbacher said it was 20 years since he had last seen such conditions in May.

Mt Hutt has a base of 110cm after more than 170cm of snow fell over the past 10 days.

Assistant ski area manager James McKenzie said they would know by today whether it was feasible to open, after considering health and safety and logistical issues.

The field had planned to open on June 13.

- NZPA