Rain has fallen every day in Auckland this month
Friday, 23 August 2019
It's been a wet month for Auckland with rain falling every single day, NIWA says.
Chris Brandolino, meteorologist for the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), said August had been a 'stand out' month in terms of the winter season.
He said Auckland had already surpassed its average amount of rainfall for August (111 millimetres) and there had been at least 0.1 millimetres of rain fall every day.
Brandolino highlighted the statistic when he appeared on The AM Show to discuss the weather on Friday morning.
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There had been some 'pretty active days' and cold air over warm water created showers and storms, he said.
Despite the heavy rainfall, Watercare said the region's storage dams were still low compared to the same time last year.
'We'd like Aucklanders to please continue to be mindful about avoiding wasting water,' spokeswoman Maxine Clayton said.
'It's a precious resource and should be treated as such.'
Head of water value Roseline Klein said the large dams in the Hunua Ranges were the main concern.
'For the month to date, the volume of rain that's fallen in the Hunua Ranges has been around normal.
'Unfortunately, we need significantly more rainfall than normal for these dams to replenish. This is because they experienced dry weather from January through July.'
By contrast, Klein said the dams in the Waitākere Ranges were in 'good shape' as a result of August's rainfall.
'It's worth noting that it's the volume of rain that falls in the Hunua and Waitākere Ranges, rather than the number of wet days across Auckland, that influences our total water storage level.'
For Friday, MetService said Auckland would see occasional rain with possible morning thunderstorms that would ease in the afternoon.
The total rainfall forecasted was 11.9mm with 1.8mm already falling as of 7am.
The high would be 14C with an overnight low of 9C.
On Thursday, severe thunderstorm warnings were in place for the upper North Island, however the expected weather didn't seem to eventuate.
Fire and Emergency NZ said they had no significant weather-related call outs overnight.
'Yesterday morning we issued a severe thunderstorm watch in preparation for the potential storms overnight, but during that period we didn't end up issuing any thunderstorm warnings, which would mean we actually had observation of a severe thunderstorm,' MetService meteorologist Melissa Oosterwijk said.
'Most of the thunderstorm activity ended up being over the water offshore of the upper North Island, so it didn't affect people as such.'
Earlier on Thursday, a thunderstorm came over Auckland with heavy rain and hail, causing stores to flood at Sylvia Park mall and a tree to fall on a car.
MetService meteorologist Curtis Hayes said the weekend should at least have more agreeable weather.
A front is forecast to move north over the South Island on Sunday bringing a period of rain to the West Coast.
Winds are expected to strengthen as the front moves north across the North Island on Monday.
How to be waterwise:
- Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth or shaving.
- Try to shower for four minutes or less.
- Wash full loads of laundry whenever possible. This will save water and energy.
- When hand-washing dishes, fill the sink rather than washing the dishes under a running tap.
- Check to make sure your toilet cistern isn't leaking. To do this, put a few drops of food colouring in the cistern. If colouring ends up in the toilet bowl without flushing, you have a leak.