Strong Whanganui winds cause power outages, topple light tower

Windy weather leads into a sunny weekend for Whanganui. Photo / NZME

Strong winds in Whanganui cut power to thousands and temporarily closed the Cobham Bridge early on Friday.

The winds brought down a light post on the State Highway 3 bridge as southerly gales up to 81km/h moved across Whanganui.

A severe weather watch is in place in west Whanganui and Taranaki.

Police were called to help with traffic control until the road fully reopened shortly before 8am.

Meanwhile, 6678 customers lost power at 6am after a tree went through lines on the corner of Francis and Rapanui Rds.

All affected customers were reconnected by 8.17am.

MetService forecaster Gerard Bellam said the wind was expected to calm and make way for a “bright and sunny weekend”.

“The good news, though, is that low is moving away and, as we get into the weekend, we’ve got a narrow bridge of high pressure moving in giving us a sunny Saturday and Sunday.”

Saturday’s high is expected to be 21C.

A southerly breeze can be expected on Saturday, moving into a westerly on Sunday, according to Bellam.

Sunday will be warmer with a low of 14C overnight and a high of 24C.

Olivia Reid is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.