A brief deluge swamped the intersection of Kaimanawa and Scannell Streets and many other roads, homes and businesses. Photo / Dan Hutchinson
A brief deluge swamped the intersection of Kaimanawa and Scannell Streets and many other roads, homes and businesses. Photo / Dan Hutchinson
Taupō residents and business owners are mopping up after a torrential downpour dumped 25 millimetres of rain on the town in 15 minutes on Sunday afternoon.
Streets temporarily turned into rivers as stormwater drains struggled to cope with the volume of water. Backyards and basements became swimming pools, with Fire and Emergency New Zealand fielding four emergency callouts following the brief weather bomb.
Lighting Depot owner Bruce MacLennan, on the corner of Spa Rd and Ruapehu St, said his business would be out action for a week or two while he replaced the ceiling, possibly the carpet and about 70 per cent of his stock.
Water had come through from the empty premises above him and drenched his stock, and because it was all electrical items, the stock would have to be replaced.
Elsewhere, Kiwibank and the adjacent Purple Patch Taupō craft store on Horomatangi St were cleaning up on Monday morning after water came through the ceiling.
Water damage to the ceiling above the Purple Patch Taupō crafts shop. Photo / Dan Hutchinson
Taupō District Council’s Customer & Visitor Centre on Tongariro Street was also flooded during the downpour, a spokesperson said.
“It is open today with the team operating from a counter at the front door, with limited access and ability, while water vacuums and an industrial heater are used to clean up inside.
“The customer service team will continue to support customers and visitors as best they can, and hope to be back to business as usual tomorrow.”
Taupō weather researcher Bevan Choat recorded 25mm at his weather station, which matches the MetService figure for the event.
He said it was a result of convectional rainfall which occurs when hot air rises, carrying water vapour along with it, then it cools at a higher altitude, condenses and falls, usually not far from where it started.
“With rain of that sort of intensity, you can expect some damage.”
To put it into context, parts of Hawke’s Bay were experiencing similar intensity for hours on end during Cyclone Gabrielle, with one weather station on a Te Konini farm recording 643.6mm of rainfall over 24 hours.
Taupō has very free-draining pumice soils, so the water dissipated quickly after the event. Similar weather bombs had been experienced across the central North Island throughout the weekend, in less populated areas.
Choat said the convectional rainfall was the sort of weather event typically experienced in December in the Central Plateau, but the climate was clearly changing as “we are getting this all the time”, along with a longer summer.
A staff member at Purple Patch Taupo cleans up after a deluge on Sunday caused gutters to overflow into the ceiling. Photo / Dan Hutchinson
He said the La Niña weather system that had been influencing New Zealand’s weather for several years looked like it was finally changing.
In its outlook for the next three months, Niwa reported that La Niña would finally fade to “Enso-neutral” conditions this month – meaning there’d be no dominant climate driver shaping the country’s weather until the expected arrival of counterpart El Niño later in 2023.
