Weather: Bay of Plenty misses Coromandel heavy rain and winds

The weekend in the Bay of Plenty will be mainly cloudy with isolated showers. Photo / File

The Bay of Plenty was left reasonably unscathed after heavy rain and winds wreaked havoc along the Coromandel Peninsula yesterday.

MetService meteorologist Tahlia Crabtree said the main areas to be hit yesterday was the northern part of the region, closest to the storm.

The Kaimai Range had 13.6mm of rain between 7pm and 7am this morning with "very strong" winds to the west of the range.

Rotorua had 6.4mm in the same 12-hour period, Whakatāne had 5.2mm and Tauranga had 1.2mm.

Tauranga had "reasonably strong" winds, with the strongest gust around 2pm reaching 52km/h.

There will be periods of heavy rain today in the Bay of Plenty, west of Te Puke and rainfall amounts may approach warning criteria.

The rain will gradually clear by this evening across the region, with rain in Rotorua expected to clear earlier by this afternoon.

Crabtree said the wild weather in the Coromandel was the result of a slow front; and it had lost its strength before it reached the Bay.

For the last weekend of the school holidays, there will be cloudy periods with isolated showers.

Some Highways in the Coromandel area remain CLOSED, following bad weather yesterday. Please continue to drive to the conditions and watch out for surface flooding, slips and fallen trees. Closure info here: https://t.co/QjsXOEpezf. pic.twitter.com/7Mu5UerDje

— Waka Kotahi NZTA Waikato/BoP (@WakaKotahiWaiBP) July 16, 2020

Wild weather in the Coromandel

Three Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews were called to help the stranded motorists who were travelling in a van and a car along Hikuai Settlement Rd, just before 8pm last night.

Shift manager Craig Dally said the group were treated for mild hypothermia after getting themselves out of the water.

It was one of dozens of jobs emergency services were called to as wild weather hammered the area overnight.

Power outages were reported in nearly 150 homes, as strong winds ripped powerlines and trees to the ground.

Cyclone-strength winds battering Te Aroha for the past few days left 86 homes in the dark, while trees flattening power lines have affected a further 65 properties in Tapu on the Thames coast.