From zero to 100: Forecasters' Twitter feeds show speed of storm's escalation

With questions being raised about whether forecasters were caught by surprise at the intensity of last night's weather, social media feeds show the speed with which the storm picked up pace, battering Auckland and taking down power lines.

On Twitter, the evening started out with warnings from Vector, Niwa, the MetService and WeatherWatch about 6.30pm saying temperatures would be low and wind gusts would be strong.

Several hours later, a flurry of tweets showed winds were hammering homes and had reached speeds of more than 100km/h.

The fire service tweeted at 9.51pm they were being "inundated with 111 calls", shortly after NIWA said gusts of 133km/h had been recorded on the Harbour Bridge.

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Phone lines are down on Woodside Road, Massy after a powerful storm hit most of the country last night. Photo / Dean Purcell.

Shortly before 11pm, Vector energy tweeted about widespread outages, six hours after a tweet warning Aucklanders downed lines were likely.

This morning Weather Watch's Philip Duncan was scratching his head over the storm's fierce battering, which seemingly few people expected to have the force of a Category 2 cyclone.

"I am going to be asking lots of questions today about what we could have done better, because we didn't see that there would be lots of trees down and half the city without power this morning," WeatherWatch.co.nz head forecaster Philip Duncan said.

"It was a notch higher than what we were expecting," he said.

But New Zealand's official weather warning outlet Metservice said it stood by its watches and said it couldn't have done anything more to warn New Zealanders.

"We had weather warnings out for a considerable period of time and before it was a warning, it was in the severe weather outlook," MetService meteorologist Tom Adams said.

"We had social media, press releases and radio interviews, so every base was covered.

"Apart from going around knocking door to door, there is not much more we could have done."

See the storm's progression via Twitter below:

We're expecting to see some strong wind gusts tonight. Our crews are wrapped up and ready. Remember to treat downed lines as live and stay well clear and report any outages via our app. https://t.co/Xh5RCv2ut4

— Vector Ltd (@Vectorltd) April 10, 2018

As the sun sets, a line of brief, gusty showers is advancing on Auckland with a distinctive edge of dark cloud 🌧🌬 pic.twitter.com/Nen3mrT8rs

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) April 10, 2018

The cold air spreads farther up the country tomorrow. Here's a look at the maximum temperatures... brrr ^JL pic.twitter.com/lIw8UXt1CJ

— MetService (@MetService) April 10, 2018

The tight, swirling cloud west of the North Island represents a rather strong low pressure system racing toward Auckland/Northland/Waikato -- it is expected pack a punch when it arrives in several hours 🌬️ pic.twitter.com/T27UAurRAA

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) April 10, 2018

8:35pm #Update: The centre of a low is making landfall in the western North Island (Waikato to South Auckland). Much cooler S to SW winds develop tonight behind the centre spreading over northern NZ. Winds peak between now and the early hours of Weds AM at this stage. pic.twitter.com/EmnrmaXY2s

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

#Weather #Update: Colder change moving into northern #NewZealand, gales peak tonight/overnight https://t.co/juNTLiFqqy via @weatherwatchnz

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

some strong wind gust's in Auckland right now @WeatherWatchNZ

— 🛰🚀🛬@$h£y Ki!!ip🛫🚀🛰 (@AshleyKillip) April 10, 2018

Fun
We are getting hit here in Papakura as the core of the Low starts tracking over us now

— Ben Ross (@BenRoss_AKL) April 10, 2018

This is some serious wind in Auckland CBD - the building is rocking like in an earthquake!

— Dr Heather Battles (@anthroetc) April 10, 2018

Can hear winds whistling outside @WeatherWatchNZ ! And high volume shaking of trees!

— Siddhartha S Mann (@siddharthamann) April 10, 2018

100+ km/h gusts now occurring in the #Auckland region.

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) April 10, 2018

As we alerted to several hours ago there is the risk of power cuts & some wind damage tonight in #Auckland. Please be prepared for power cuts.
Winds peak from now to the early hours of Weds AM. See our website & free app for hourly wind averages. cc @Vectorltd @AucklandCDEM https://t.co/LyuPTFtnAW

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

💨 The top wind gust observed at any of our climate stations (through 9pm) was 102.6 km/h at Mangere.

💨 Locally higher gusts are now occurring.

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) April 10, 2018

#ALERT: Damage may be significant in some parts of #Auckland tonight. Powercuts are becoming widespread. Roof damage possible. Please take extreme care tonight and avoid driving.

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

#ALERT: Wind damage is highly likely across #Auckland tonight. Power cuts are becoming increasingly widespread. Isolated roof damage also possible. (a notch up from the #Alert we issued at 2pm). Please take extreme care tonight and avoid driving. cc @Vectorltd @AucklandCDEM pic.twitter.com/6RTo6s1UD9

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

Widespread 100+ km/h gusts to persist until at least 10:30 -11:00 pm in the #Auckland area. ~Chris

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) April 10, 2018

#Auckland - Damaging gales peak NOW until the early hours of WEDNESDAY. In other words we have a 'few to several more hours to go'. There are various peaks for various wind tunnels so some may find it eases a little earlier hopefully. https://t.co/x6XefmQx5V

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

So the #aucklandHarbourBridge and #skytower #auckland have lost power. Mount Eden road is just littered with debris @WeatherWatchNZ

— DJ SUNIL NZ (@sunil_DJ_sunil) April 10, 2018

Our friends at the @MetService have recorded a 133 km/h wind gust on the #Auckland Harbour Bridge. ##wind ~ Chris

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) April 10, 2018

Our Northern Communication Centre is being inundated with 111 calls 📞due to the weather& extremely strong winds. They're dealing with more than 170 calls in the Auckland& Upper North Island area, mainly about trees that have fallen over in the wind.

— Fire and Emergency New Zealand (@FireEmergencyNZ) April 10, 2018

Neighbour's trampoline is now perched precariously on its end against the fence. 😬

Purely anecdotal, but I reckon this is the strongest gusts we've had in the 18 months we've been here.

Anyway, power is out. Goodnight and good luck.

— Les Gates (@lesgates) April 10, 2018

More and more reports of serious damage coming into @WeatherWatchNZ as gales continue to tear across #Auckland. Please remain indoors - winds are peaking now. We'll keep you posted on when it will ease back (possibly not for hours in some parts). https://t.co/YkpfpV79pZ

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

10:15pm #UPDATE for #Auckland: In the big scheme of things the damaging winds hitting Auckland right now are a small speck on the overall wind map, but these gales are now fully crossing the region and that means some may already notice peak gusts easing back a little before 12AM pic.twitter.com/eTSkle2Xxh

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

Severe Weather Watch issued for NTHLD, WTOMO, BOP, ROTR, TAUPO, TMNUI, TAIHP, GISB, HAWK, TARAR, WRAPA, MNWTU, WGTN https://t.co/B4exE5qknI

— Severe Weather Info (@MetServiceWARN) April 10, 2018

A rare statement from Auckland Airport tonight: "The runway has been temporarily closed due to debris from adverse weather. Flights are delayed and diverted until further notice".

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

Heavy Rain Warning issued for TAIHP, GISB, HAWK, TNAKI, WGNUI https://t.co/OFdEiIVlSc

— Severe Weather Info (@MetServiceWARN) April 10, 2018

Strong Wind Warning issued for AUCK, GTBAR, CORO, WKATO, TNAKI, WGTN, MARLB https://t.co/OFdEiIDL0E

— Severe Weather Info (@MetServiceWARN) April 10, 2018

Peak wind gusts through 10pm from Auckland-area climate stations.

💨 Over 100 km/h out west, 85-95 km/h widespread central/north.

💨 Locally higher gusts were reported (e.g. 133 km/h on Harbour Bridge). pic.twitter.com/PLOmTeqcKb

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) April 10, 2018

Road Snowfall Warning issued for Napier-Taupo Rd, Desert Rd, Lewis Pass, Arthur's Pass, Porters Pass, Milford Rd https://t.co/3gxm6XFfEL

— Severe Weather Info (@MetServiceWARN) April 10, 2018

We have an *unconfirmed* report of a wind gust to 194km/h on Auckland's Manukau Heads this evening from a user on the Coastguard App.

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

There are currently NO thunderstorms in Auckland. The flashes of light are from powerlines and power transformers. Please remain indoors and contact @Vectorltd for any downed powerlines or power outages.

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

10:50PM #Update: #Auckland gales continue. Damaging gusts are still likely until the early hours of Wednesday. In the maps below the damaging winds are in purple moving into the upper North Island but also weakening.
Peak winds continue until the early hours of Wednesday morning pic.twitter.com/TBGag492rG

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

Fierce winds are continuing to cause widespread outages across Auckland. Our crews are working as quickly and safely as they can to restore power. We're aware of some difficulties reporting via the app and are working to resolve this. Thank you for your patience.

— Vector Ltd (@Vectorltd) April 10, 2018

It's not just the wild weather keeping our crews incredibly busy, but at least 20 fire trucks 🚒 are also responding to a massive blaze at a mill in Matatoki, in the Thames-Coromandel district.

— Fire and Emergency New Zealand (@FireEmergencyNZ) April 10, 2018

Amongst all that darkness is our largest city. Hang in there #Auckland the worst winds are currently crossing the city with some peak gusts now even showing signs of reducing a bit. Damaging gusts still possible until 4AM Wednesday. Image via @Vectorltd outage app: pic.twitter.com/LE9r3rqk3x

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

#BREAKING: @Vectorltd confirms to @WeatherWatchNZ they estimate 100,000 #Auckland HOMES now without power. WW's Auckland based updates will continue until we think peak winds are easing. Our South Island base will continue responsibilities o/night. No impact to our services yet. pic.twitter.com/FoinTbif3p

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

Auckland (Mangere) has now reported wind gusts in excess of 100 km/h for 3 consecutive hours:

💨 8-9 pm: 102.6 km/h
💨 9-10 pm: 100.4 km/h
💨 10-11 pm: 102.2 km/h

Wind gusts of this magnitude are typical of a category 1 tropical cyclone.

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) April 10, 2018

Hope you're all ok out there #Auckland, high winds are causing chaos across the region, particularly out west. Remember, if your property is severely damaged or you're in danger phone 111. Trees down on public land can be reported to @AklCouncil on 09 301 0101.

— Auckland CDEM (@AucklandCDEM) April 10, 2018

12AM UPDATE: https://t.co/gb7E1qcpZ3 believes the worst of the winds have now moved east of #Auckland, but, isolated gusts may still be damaging. Calmer spells here & there. Potentially hundreds of thousands of Aucklanders now without power. No doubt this is a significant event. pic.twitter.com/hel1Gmwd1a

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

12:15am Weds: We believe the worst of the winds in #Auckland have now eased. There may still be isolated damaging gusts over the next few hours in some areas. Unless something new develops, our next update will be at 4am.

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018

After a wild night for the upper North Island with widespread damaging wind gusts, what can we expect today and beyond? I'll have details on the @TheAMShowNZ at 7:10 am ~Chris

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) April 10, 2018

Strong, intense winds and heavy rain have caused widespread damage on the electricity network throughout Auckland. We're currently experiencing more than 150 outages across the region & more than 100k homes & business affected to date.

— Vector Ltd (@Vectorltd) April 10, 2018

As we reported last night 100,000 homes and businesses without power following damaging gales overnight. A big shout out to the Vector crews today dealing with this major event. https://t.co/ITUJo5EVwZ

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 10, 2018