Big blow blamed on gales of spring

By PAULA OLIVER and NZPA

Blustery spring winds known as "equinoctial gales" yesterday brought down trees and powerlines in central New Zealand and gave one Nelson driver a nasty fright.

Forecasters say the strong north to northwest winds are common in spring.

The sun moves south of the equator and the temperature difference between the Southern Hemisphere subtropics and polar regions increases - conditions that power strong westerlies across the country.

Yesterday's gales were accompanied by heavy rain in some places and residents of the Nelson region were among the hardest hit.

Gusts of more than 100km/h dropped a large gum tree onto the roof of a car being driven by Lynn Cameron.

She swerved into a bank to try to avoid the tree but was unharmed.

Several reports were received of falling trees blocking roads in the region, and the stormy weather also caused motor accidents. Police said they were unaware of any injuries.

The gales buffeted Wellington and lifted roofs from homes in South Taranaki and Taihape.

MetService chief forecaster Rod Stainer said strong winds had buffeted the country all week.

In Wellington the gusts reached 115km/h, but the strongest winds were on the southern tip of Stewart Island, where 150km/h was measured.

Mr Stainer said the wind, coupled with heavy rain in Fiordland and the West Coast this week, was not unusual in spring.

People should expect more bursts of wind and rain before the season ended, he said.

The winds are sometimes called equinoctial gales but Mr Stainer said they were not related to the equinox, which is the date on which the length of day and night are equal. This year the spring equinox occurs on Monday.

However, Mr Stainer said records showed that October and November were windier than September for many parts of the country.

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