Calls for the Government to front up on decisions today, ex-cyclone on the way and Ukraine braces for another attack in the East in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald
New Zealand's weather services have warned ex-tropical cyclone Fili may cause coastal floods, gales reaching 100km/h and bring heavy rain as it expects to reach landfall in the next 24 hours.
WeatherWatch said ex-tropical cyclone Fili is expected "to swipe the northeastern" North Island before tracking south across the island on Wednesday and blowing out on Thursday.
"Fili's track should take it close to Northland, Auckland and Coromandel Peninsula. Fili will then track on Wednesday either directly in and over Bay of Plenty/East Cape area, or perhaps remain just offshore as it passes by Gisborne as an extra-tropical storm," they said.
Latest track map for Cyclone Fili. The coloured cone on the track shows the uncertainty in the central position of Fili.
Niwa said the entire North Island was at risk of severe gales, with warnings that gusts could reach 100km/h in some regions on Wednesday.
At @niwa_nz, we run an 18-member "ensemble model" to understand a range of forecast scenarios.
If Cyclone Fili takes a more southerly track across the North Island, there would be a moderate chance (🟠) for wind gusts to reach 100 km/h on Wednesday across several regions. pic.twitter.com/lEzmYOmBsO
WeatherWatch said heavy rain was "once again forecast to hit the eastern side of the North Island, including similar areas recently hit by severe flooding".
"Parts of Northland and Auckland may get 50 to 100mm of rain, while Coromandel Peninsula, BoP, East Cape/Gisborne and Hawke's Bay have the chance of 150 to 250mm.
"The storm will move in on Tuesday or Wednesday with gales from the easterly quarter, which turn more southerly with a potentially damaging sting in the tail on Wednesday/Thursday as southerly quarter winds kick in from Cook Strait to Auckland and ramp up more as the storm now deepens," WeatherWatch said in an update at 10.15am on Sunday.
"There are likely to be slips, isolated flooding and road disruptions this coming week in the North Island. Power outages are also possible with winds strong enough to bring down trees and branches.
Many parts of the eastern North Island are expected to receive more than 100mm of rainfall. Photo / Metservice
"Flights may also be delayed and cancelled along with Cook Strait ferry services. This storm, while quite fast moving, has the potential to cause disruptions to power and travel across parts of the North Island this week."
A strong wind watch is also in place for Northland for 24 hours from 3pm on Tuesday.
🤖 Our supercomputer is busy tracking Cyclone Fili & hazardous weather as it tracks southward on Tuesday-Wednesday 🌀
A southerly track (⬇️) would cause serious impacts across the North Island, while an easterly track would focus the worst weather in the east (↘️)... pic.twitter.com/hyPMMfEYZz
An active cold front over the Tasman Sea has also seen severe weather warnings issued for Westland and Fiordland. Heavy northerly rain is expected to batter these regions from Monday night until Tuesday morning.
Northland and Franz Josef are expected to be hit with rain, while Wellington, Invercargill and Stewart Island are bracing for strong winds.
