“Our trees aren’t as used to strong winds from the east—so the risk of power outages, falling branches, and debris on roads is higher than usual."
STORY CONTINUES AFTER LIVE BLOG
STORY CONTINUES
Potentially damaging gusts of up to 120km/h threaten to close major roads like the Auckland Harbour Bridge in Auckland this evening and tomorrow in the upper North.
Authorities have warned residents to “act now” in preparation for the storm, which could bring the strongest winds to the top of the North Island since 2017.
Just after lunch a major road north of Auckland was affected by a fallen tree which brought down powerlines across the path of traffic.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) advised motorists to avoid the Hibiscus Highway at Silverdale earlier this afternoon with kilometres-long queues quickly building.
SH1 has already been forced to close twice south of Whangārei after trees were blown into the road.
Around 1000 Northland homes were without power this evening.
Aucklanders have been warned to prepare for “messy” weather tomorrow, as the weather system moves closer.
“Thursday’s looking quite messy, with really strong winds – gale-force through to midnight on Friday morning,” Auckland Emergency Management general manager Adam Maggs said in a video posted on social media channels.
“And we’re going to get heavier rain right throughout the early morning and throughout the day.”
Maggs urged motorists to “take care”, including also checking the weather at their destinations “just to make sure you can be safe on the roads”.
Other regions like Coromandel and Tasman are bracing for 200mm of rain with warnings the skies will not clear for at least 36 hours.
Cyclone Tam was reclassified early this afternoon with MetService removing “tropical” from its title after it travelled into colder waters.
MetService warned that it was not downgraded and Tam was actually gaining intensity as it tracks closer.
MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said it remains a powerful and potentially damaging system with rainfall and strong winds expected over a wide area of the country over the coming days.
Waves up to 6m are expected to lash the coastline bring a threat of damage and inundation to north parts.
She said the most likely areas for coastal impacts stretch from North Cape down to Coromandel, with the highest risk around high tide.
MetService has placed strong wind warnings in place for Northland and Auckland with nearly 30 hours of gales tipped to strike the upper North Island.
The forecasting agency said severe easterly winds are expected to begin in Auckland and Great Barrier Island at 9pm.
They are expected to begin earlier in Northland at 3pm.
The forecasting agency warned residents to expect 120km/h gusts.
It also warned gusts near the Auckland Harbour Bridge may approach 100km/h today and could exceed that on Thursday. The bridge is forced to close when winds reach 90km/h.
Strong wind watches are also in place for Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato, Waitomo, Taumarunui, Taihape, Taranaki and Buller from tomorrow morning.
The Coromandel Peninsula is expected to see the largest rainfall amounts with 150 to 250mm of rain forecast over 36 hours.
MetService reported thunderstorms could possibly lash the region on Friday after skies open at a rate of 15 to 25mm/h from midnight tonight.
A heavy rain warning remains for Northland with residents being told to expect 150mm on top of what has already fallen, which is about 20mm in many areas. The warning is in place until 9pm.
Heavy rain warnings are also in place Bay of Plenty west of Kawerau, including Rotorua and the Kaimāī Range, Gisborne north of Tokomaru Bay and Tasman northwest of Motueka.
Around 180mm of rain is expected to be dumped in these regions from this evening until midnight on Friday.
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