Cabinet gets a reshuffle, the aftermath of the latest wild weather and why your next flight ticket could be more expensive than you expect in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald
MetService says that on Sunday, lightning was striking every second for three hours as thunderstorms moved across the country.
Between last Tuesday and 3.30am this morning, a total of 123,009 lightning strikes were recorded – on average, that's one every five seconds. Of these, 30,650 were recorded over land – the fifth largest tally in a month.
This comes as more rain, wind and snow is on the cards for many parts of the country today but slightly "brighter and clearer" days are ahead.
With the thunderstorm activity finally moving off the country today lets do a round up of stats for last week 👇
Wind warnings were still in place for the bridge around 6.30am this morning as commuters got on the road.
FINAL UPDATE: 09:15 Metservice have confirmed the wind warnings for the Harbour Bridge have been removed. ^WC https://t.co/dQXQhApl4s
— Auckland Transport Travel Alerts (@AT_TravelAlerts) June 13, 2022
Wild weather across the country closed schools and roads, caused flooding and shut the Auckland Harbour Bridge briefly five times yesterday.
And more than 100,000 lightning strikes have been detected over the past seven days.
Scores of MetService-issued weather warnings were in force yesterday, stretching across the country and covering most of the North Island and much of the South Island - and a number are already in force today.
MetService has issued a strong wind warning for the Tararua District and Hawke's Bay south of Hastings, residents are warned that gales could reach 120km/h.
The warning is in place from 10am today for 24 hours.
🌧💨🌩❄
We've had a bit of everything from the weather over the last few days and it's not quite over yet if our Warnings map is anything to go by https://t.co/qHyE5zhh6X
More wind, more snow, more rain, more thunderstorms but gradually we are seeing an easing in the weather. pic.twitter.com/PlWIWJYRL5
In the South Island, there are already a number of road snowfall warnings in place for today.
There is one for Lewis Pass between 5am and 8am, Arthur's Pass between 3am and 11am, the Crown Range Road between 2am and 6pm and Milford Rd until 9am tomorrow.
A strong wind warning is also still in place for coastal parts of southern Fiordland and Southland including Stewart Island, gusts are expected to reach 120km/h.
There is also a strong wind watch in place for Coastal Dunedin and Clutha from 6am this morning to 9am tomorrow.
In his forecast, MetService meteorologist Angus Hines said the end of the active weather was almost in sight as a low-pressure system moved east, away from New Zealand.
"We are going to get some slightly brighter and clearer conditions by the middle of this week."
However, NIWA has indicated that a low-pressure system from the tropics may form over the weekend - bringing more rain, wind and possible storms next week.
👩🍳 So what's next on Mother Nature's menu?
After the strong low (🔵) clears to the east of the country on Tuesday, there will be a brief window of slightly more settled weather.
The focus then shifts to the tropics where a low could brew next weekend & drop southward 👀 pic.twitter.com/xmKpqtaJ8O
Meanwhile, from Nelson around to Christchurch, a mostly fine day is expected but it will be windy at times.
Wind, rain and showers are predicted for the bottom half of the South Island – especially in areas south of Queenstown, which are in line for some "really nasty" weather, Hines said.
"The wind is exceptionally strong around [the] southeastern corner [of the South Island], southwest gales are expected."
Meanwhile, for the top half of the North Island, it will be a mostly dry but windy day with stiff southwesterlies and possible showers in some western spots, especially south of Auckland.
Wind and showers are forecast in the capital today, with northwest gales gusting 90km/h in exposed places until evening.
Nationally, Wednesday will be fine generally but breezy for many eastern places of the North Island, while showers are expected in some western parts.
Showers are expected up the West Coast of the South Island again on Wednesday as well in Invercargill and Dunedin.
Yesterday, strong winds forced transport authorities to close the Auckland Harbour Bridge briefly five times throughout the day.
MetService meteorologist Tui McInnes said the weather station on the Harbour Bridge recorded wind gusts of up to 104km/h at lunchtime.
A mammoth effort underway yesterday to clear over 1.5m of snow from the Lindis Pass. Photo / George Heard
In the South Island, snowfall closed roads and schools. Lindis Pass was blanketed with 1.5 metres of snow yesterday and contractors used loaders and tractors from both ends of the State Highway in a mammoth effort to try and clear the route.
The Ministry of Education said 12 schools across the country closed as a result of the severe weather, including in the Otago and Southland regions due to snow.
Heavy rain kept emergency services busy around Porirua yesterday as flooding closed roads and threatened homes.
