Wild weather forecast brings warnings for Auckland over possible power cuts, downed trees

Monday, 13 August 2018

Tamaki Dr in central Auckland was closed due to flooding on Monday night.

A major Auckland road has been closed by high tides as contractors are on standby with concerns wild winds could rip through the city's infrastructure.

Vector energy and climate agency NIWA both warned on Monday night that strong winds forecast for Auckland could cause damage to the city's electricity infrastructure as winds could reach speeds of up to 100kmh over the next two days.

Auckland is expected to be hit with wild weather starting from Monday evening (file photo).

Flooding on Tamaki Dr caused Auckland Transport to close the road at 8.50pm Monday as a king tide hit, spokesman Mark Hannan said.

The section of Tamaki Dr between The Strand and Ngapipi Rd had been closed to traffic and buses had been diverted, he said.

* Brace yourself for more bad weather across New Zealand

* More rain on the way for soaked regions as severe weather warnings in place**

Tamaki Dr was expected to be re-open at 10pm.

Aucklanders have been warned to brace for wild weather, with strong winds, flooding and even tornadoes possibly on the cards for Monday night, and even stronger winds expected on Tuesday.

Winds were gusting through the Hauraki Gulf at speeds of up to 25 knots, or nearly 50kmh, at 6pm Monday leaving the city facing the risk of small tornadoes, Ravi Kandula, a MetService meteorologist said.

'The stronger winds are all further north at the moment but those ones will pick up through Auckland later this evening.'

Vector Energy Chief Network Officer Andrew Botha said sodden ground and strong winds could cause trees to come loose and fall onto powerlines.

Botha asked the public to keep an eye on seemingly weakened trees that could endanger the public or collapse.

'Trees coming into contact with lines and cars colliding with power poles in the wet, are both possibilities when the worst of the weather reaches Auckland.'

Climate agency NIWA echoed those concerns, warning the public that downed tree branches could cause 'scattered power outages' across Auckland.

Kandula said there was also a small risk the strong winds forecast could turn into tornadoes .

Any tornadoes that hit Auckland would be 'small and localised', Kandula said.

'We're not expecting widespread damage or anything of that sort.'

Kandula said a rain band hit Auckland on Monday evening and a king tide was expected at 9pm.

'With the tide it's not out of the question that we might get some flooding in some parts of Auckland.'

The accumulated rainfall and high tide could mean flooding for exposed areas like Tamaki Dr but Kandula stressed the risk of flooding on Monday night was low.

Earlier on Monday Auckland Transport said it would have contractors on standby for any possible flooding on Tamaki Dr in central Auckland.

Hannan said contractors would be on site on Tamaki Dr from 7:30pm Monday for the 9pm king tide but he noted winds had not yet reached the forecast 20-30knots from the north east.

'We are keeping an eye on the weather and contractors are on standby for the next 48 hours.

'We do not expect the tide to be as high as a month ago but we will be monitoring it,' Hannan added.

'Motorists should watch for updates and be prepared for possible lane closures.'

Earlier, MetService said that after a month of relatively quiet weather, Auckland was in for a busy 48 hours.

The strongest winds were expected to hit Auckland after 6pm Tuesday evening.

A frontal system was currently moving over the country and would be approaching Auckland and Northland on Monday evening, MetService meteorologist Mark Bowe said.

A severe wind watch is in place for Tuesday evening in the city.

'You'll be in for a band of rain and possibly heavy falls from this evening.'

Bowe said Auckland was in for two periods of bad weather.

Monday evening would see heavy rain, and strong westerly winds were expected on Tuesday.

'There will also be showers in these westerlies, some possibly thundery as well,' Bowe said.

Bowe said it couldn't be compared to the April storm as of yet but strong winds would hit Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island and up to the Coromandel Peninsula.

The MetService website said the weather watch was in place from 6pm Tuesday until 1am Wednesday.

'You're in for a busy couple of days,' Bowe said.