There's more bad weather on the way for Auckland and parts of the upper North Island, but MetService says the colder temperatures that have gripped parts of the country are expected to ease.
Around 45,000 homes in Auckland still remain without power after a storm hit on Tuesday night after strong winds blew down trees and took out parts of the power network. Photo: Twitter / @lemonandlimenz
MetService is advising people in Auckland and parts of the upper North Island to secure loose objects ahead of more bad weather set to hit tonight.
Senior meteorologist Lisa Murray said there was a strong wind watch for the northern part of the North Island, including Auckland, Great Barrier Island, the Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty and part of the Waikato.
"Quite a broad area there - that's on watch so it's not quite warning criteria but we're keeping a close eye on that one."
GIF comparing Auckland's wind gusts from Tuesday's storm to tonight's front:
— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) April 11, 2018
Winds tonight not nearly as strong (notice no purple colours)!
Coverage of stronger winds tonight will be more isolated in nature.
With weakened trees/structures, there may be spotty damage. pic.twitter.com/OklCsgZGco
Ms Murray said in addition, forecast thunderstorms could bring squally gusts of over 110 kilometres an hour, and heavy downpours to the area.
"There is potential for some decent thunderstorms tonight, some heavy downpours and some gusts of wind - possibly up to 110 kilometres an hour or even more, associated with that thunderstorm line as it runs through."
Ms Murray said the weather due to hit was not on the scale that hit Auckland and Taranaki this week. The system was part of a different set up but the expected squally gusts could move around fallen debris, and people should prepare as best they could, she said.
West Auckland: The further west you go, the higher the odds of BRIEF damaging winds tonight. This event is very different to the last one, in that damaging winds will NOT be widespread – but rather very localised. Keep up to date with MetService info at https://t.co/GZIq9Jlbrw^GG pic.twitter.com/plyzc2vYCG
— MetService (@MetService) April 11, 2018
She said it was expected from 8pm tonight until about midnight, but temperatures in Auckland aren't expected to drop below 14°C.
"It is going to warm up a bit tonight. Those temperatures overnight in Auckland were down to 10°, which is quite cold for them. They should be about 14C° tonight, whereas other places around the country got right down to zero [degrees].
"Unfortunately we are now in autumn and the colder weather is around, but at least it won't be as cold as we've had the last two nights," Ms Murray said.
The coldest places in the country this morning were St Arnaud in the Nelson Lakes area, which woke to minus -4.3C° and in Blenheim it was -1C°.
Ms Murray said the weather around the country over the next few days was a mix of fine weather and rain.
"It's going to be quite changeable. We have a number of fronts moving up the country and these weak little ridges in-between that will give finer weather, but there will be more wind and rain."
The MetService is advising people to stay up to date with the weather in their area via official forecasting sites and resources.
