Forecasters are warning that there is still more rain to fall for much of the North Island and more weather alerts have been issued as the remnants of ex-tropical Cyclone Lola sweep over the country, leaving roads flooded and yachts damaged.
MetService issued additional weather warnings today for Coromandel and Bay of Plenty, including Rotorua, that are due to expire tomorrow morning. Coromandel can expect 100 to 120mm of rain, in addition to rain which has already accumulated while between 90 and 120mm is expected for Bay of Plenty.
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Meanwhile, the weather forecasting agency also upgraded heavy rain watches for Hawke’s Bay to warnings, including for Tairawhiti/Gisborne from Tolaga Bay northwards from 9am Monday to 4pm Tuesday. This area is being told to expect between 130 and 160mm of rain.
Whangarei District Council has warned that rain is expected to last until late Tuesday.
The poor weather conditions led to high tide flooding on Auckland’s Northern Motorway, road closures across Northland and Coromandel and left thousands without power.
Several schools in the rain-hit regions were also forced to close today.
The rough weather has affected the arrival of two cruise ships expected into Auckland this morning and storm surges along the coast in Auckland left yachts damaged.
The Ovation of the Seas with 4000 passengers on board was expected in the Bay of Islands this morning. The ship bypassed that port and headed for Auckland. However, high winds prevented her from docking in Auckland and she changed route to Wellington.
The blustery conditions also delayed the arrival of the Majestic Princess into Auckland.
Independent forecaster Weatherwatch says the storm has peaked in power and will gradually start to unravel in the next 24 hours.
However despite this it warns there will still be isolated damaging gusts affecting the upper North Island.
The weather system involves a large, deep, complex low-pressure system moving slowly down the country, bringing moisture and tropical air from the subtropics.
Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo said over the past 24 hours rain data from the Northland Regional Council showed that the Glenbervie area had around 127mm of rain and the other areas had between 35 and 75mm of rain.
MetService forecaster Lewis Ferris said the Coromandel’s elevated weather station near The Pinnacles recorded 14.5mm of rainfall between 7am and 8am, and had recorded 120mm over six hours.
Ferris said the worst of the weather was expected to hit Auckland, Northland, Coromandel and Gisborne today before starting to ease from tomorrow.
“People are just going to need to get through today, that’s when we’ll see the worst of it with the tail end into Tuesday and easing on Wednesday,” said Ferris.
