A minor washout in Waikaraka, Whangārei Heads, caused by heavy rain overnight. Photo / Michael Cunningham
A minor washout in Waikaraka, Whangārei Heads, caused by heavy rain overnight. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Parts of Northland were drenched by a month's worth of rainfall in less than a day as the torrential downpours that caused chaos in Auckland moved north.
Whangārei was hit the hardest with the airport recording 111mm of rain in the 18 hours up to 9am on Wednesday morning.
MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey said downpours peaked in Whangārei between 5pm and 8pm on Tuesday night, when 60mm of rain fell in those three hours alone.
"Some other areas surrounding Whangārei, in particular out towards the coastline, experienced significant rain."
Whangārei Heads – just a quick skip across the water from Whangārei Airport - was battered by more than 100mm of rainfall.
At around 7pm on Tuesday night, residents along the popular Whangārei Heads coastline were warning one another about flash floods along the only road to the area.
There were reports parts of the coastal hotspot's arterial road had washed away in Waikaraka – around 13km from the city centre - causing the road to go down to one lane on Wednesday.
The section of Whangārei Heads Rd near HeadsUp Adventure in Tamaterau was underwater by 7.30pm on Tuesday. Photo / Clint Hall
Torrents of brown water were seen rushing over the same stretch of road, less than 2km away, after a river linked to the Whangārei Harbour flooded near Tamaterau.
A creek at the Pines Golf Club in Whangārei Heads breached causing extensive flooding.
The club, previously a beachside haven for people to take coastal strolls during lockdown, had to close the course to walkers because of the dangerous waterflow and until the full extent of the damage could be assessed.
Not far from the golf course, a slip on Darkies Hill in Whangārei Heads meant only one lane was open to traffic.
Local farmers reassured concerned residents that stock had been moved to higher ground as rain continued to pour.
While other areas in Northland were less wet, Glassey said they still had "significant accumulations" of rainfall.
Kerikeri recorded 29mm of rain in the 18 hours up to 9am on Wednesday, Kaikohe 28mm, and Dargaville had a total of 21mm of rainfall.
Northland Regional Council (NRC) rainfall for data for the last 24 hours up to 10am on Wednesday recorded the heaviest rainfall of 129.5mm at Dugmores Rock in Ngunguru, followed by 97mm in Glenbervie.
The Hokianga Harbour, Larmer Rd in Kaitaia, and Kimberley Rd in Houhora were the region's driest spots with 1mm or less of recorded rainfall.
Sergeant Ryan Gray, of Northland Police, said the only weather related call had been from a truck driver in Kerikeri at 5.50am on Wednesday.
He was concerned cars may not be able to get through surface flooding on State Highway 10 between Waimate North Rd and Blue Gum Rd, Gray said.
However, by 10am flooding had subsided and vehicles were able to easily move through the section of state highway.
Meanwhile, the heavy rain — and customer feedback — has forced lines company Top Energy to delay a planned power outage near Kerikeri.
Power was to have been shut off to 460 households in the Redcliffs Rd, Rangitane and Opito Bay area for up to four hours from 10am yesterday, but it will now take place at a later date.
The company originally said the shutdown could not be postponed because a damaged piece of equipment had to be replaced.
Residents, however, made it clear that alert level 4 wasn't a good time for a shutdown because most people were home and more reliant than usual on power.
A company spokeswoman said, however, there was a ''strong risk'' the damaged equipment could fail in the meantime, which would cut power to a larger area for a longer period.
Glassey said Northland's wet weather was caused by the same rain band that hit Auckland earlier this week.
West Aucklanders were driven from their homes overnight on Monday as severe downpours caused major flooding, road closures, and catastrophic damage to many homes.
Despite Northland dodging the ferocity of wild weather – as the region battled a milder dose instead – it had behaved the same with some areas experiencing significantly worse weather than others.
"It affected quite localised areas," Glassey said. "Some places received a lot less rain, which was the same problem in Auckland where some areas received extraordinary rainfall and some had not much at all."
Wet weather wasn't the only worry for locals hunkered down. Parts of Northland were battered by strong south easterly winds caused by a low pressure system just west of the region.
Wind gusts up to 70km/h were recorded in Whangārei topped by gusts of 93km/h further north in Kāeo.
"The wind will be different in all areas of Northland as it depends on how exposed the area is," Glassey said.
He pointed out Kāeo was more exposed as it sat 397m above sea level.
But good news was on its way, with conditions forecasted to ease by Wednesday evening despite a heavy rain warning from MetService set to last until 6pm the same day.
Even though things were set to get better Glassey said Northlanders should prepare for a damp few days ahead.
"Once the heavy rain eases we're just expecting a few showers for the next few days with south-easterly winds. It's not perfect weather but it's better."
While it may be surprising based on the weather so far this spring, Niwa's long-range outlook for the season is for above-average temperatures and rainfall at normal or below normal levels.
Extended dry spells, unusual for the time of year, were likely, as were below-normal river flows.
Conditions in the Pacific Ocean were trending towards La Nina for the second year in a row with coastal sea surface temperatures predicted to be unusually warm by November.
Drought in eastern parts of Northland is less likely during La Nina events, which tend to bring north-easterly winds rather than the westerlies of El Nino.
