Whanganui records over 80km/h wind gusts with more strong winds to come

Wind gusts of 85km/h were recorded in Whanganui on Monday morning. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui experienced a blustery start to the week, with wind gusts of over 80km/h recorded in the city on Monday.

MetService meteorologist Jessie Owen said a strong southerly flow blew across the region, with the strongest wind gust of 85km/h recorded at around 8am.

However, throughout the day the winds gradually eased off, with max gusts dropping to 57km/h by 2pm and a mean windspeed of 35-40km/h.

Those hoping this would mean the winds would reduce would be disappointed though, as the strong gusts were expected for the city again for Anzac Day, with a change to westerlies bringing the strength back to the gusts.

“There’s another front coming up tomorrow with a strong westerly flow ahead of it so we’re expecting westerlies to pick up there.

“Whanganui is fairly exposed in that direction as it is to the direct southerlies, so should be seeing some stronger winds tomorrow,” Owen said.

Once the westerly front moved through, she said winds would drop back off again.

Showers were expected instead in the region on Wednesday.

Late in the week, Owen said, a big high-pressure system was expected to move over the region, which meant the weather and wind were expected to settle back down by the end of the week.