Wellington faced severe gales gusting up to 137 km/h alongside unusually warm overnight temperatures on Friday as a powerful spring weather system swept across New Zealand, bringing heavy rain to parts of the South Island, Milford Road snowfall warnings, and transport disruptions.
A volatile mix of classic spring weather gripped the country on Friday, combining damaging winds, heavy downpours, and sudden temperature spikes. MetService reported that a front impacted parts of the South Island and the Tararua Range, while strong northwesterlies could reach a severe gale in eastern areas from Canterbury all the way up to Hawke’s Bay.
Wellington Records Peak Gusts and Warm Spring Night
The capital experienced the brunt of the turbulent conditions overnight, earning the distinction of being both the windiest and warmest place in the country. MetService meteorologist Braydon White noted that the wild weather aligns with seasonal norms. We're well into the classic Spring westerlies,
White said, pointing out that while the winds were normal for the start of Spring, it was warmer than average.
Wind speeds reached staggering heights across the region on Friday morning. Gusts reached 137km/h at the Remutaka Summit around 7am, followed closely by Mount Kaukau at 136km/h gusts. Urban areas also saw high winds, with the suburb of Kelburn getting gusts as high as 120km/h. Both Wellington and New Plymouth were 14 degrees overnight. Some areas quickly got warmer on Friday, like Napier rising from 7 degrees to 17 degrees within about an hour. The strong wind dragging warm air will make its way across the country today, finishing in Auckland and Northland this evening.
Transport Warnings and South Island Rain and Snow
A strong wind warning has been issued for Wellington and Wairarapa, excluding the Tararua District, from 4am on Friday through to 12pm. Severe gales gusting up to 120km/h in exposed places were possible, the forecaster said, which could bring damage to trees, powerlines and unsecured structures and make driving difficult for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles. Further north, travel across the Auckland Harbour Bridge might be disrupted on Friday, transport officials have warned. Gusts of up to 80km/h have been forecast between midday and 4pm.
“Motorists are advised to drive to the conditions and pay attention to electronic message boards on the motorway, which will advise if any lane closures and reduced speed limits are required,” the New Zealand Transport Agency said in a statement on Thursday. “If there is potential for sudden and high wind gusts on the bridge, lowering the speed limit gives motorists time to react and take more care.”
New Zealand Transport Agency
Simultaneously, heavy rain warnings were also in place for the headwaters of the Canterbury Lakes and rivers until 8am on Friday, and the Tararua Range until 1pm. Winter conditions persisted in alpine corridors, where a road snowfall warning is also in place for Milford Rd (SH94) until 6pm on Friday, with the possibility of 2cm to 5cm of snow accumulating by the tunnel.
Weekend Outlook Across the North and South Islands
As the active weather system marches onward, conditions are projected to ease. These fronts are continuing their march across the country, weakening as they do so,
MetService noted as the system progressed.
Looking ahead to the weekend, the weekend was looking more settled, according to MetService, with some rain. The North Island would see a few showers in the west on Saturday, but be mainly fine while the South Island could expect rain or showers in the west and south with possible heavy falls. On Sunday, MetService said rain would be developing in the west with possible heavy falls for the North Island and rain the west and south with heavy falls for the South Island.
