Thunderstuck: A wet and wild jolt to summer weather
Sunday, 8 December 2019
Wellingtonians are in recovery mode after a soggy weekend that saw events cancelled, houses flooded and roads closed.
The forecast for Monday is much better with meteorologists predicting an end to the stormy weather.
It was a different story for much of the weekend, with the region smashed by heavy rain, strong winds, thunder and lightning.
The heaviest rain and thunder fell just after 5am on Sunday, with Lower Hutt and Porirua hit hardest.
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It was also a bad weekend for the South Island with Timaru declaring a State of Emergency and NIWA noting parts of the South Island had already had three times the average rainfall for December.
Locally, there was significant flooding in Stokes Valley, Haywards Hill, Pauatahanui and Porirua.
Meteorologists said it was a one-in-40-year event.
The storm was accompanied by an impressive light show with 109,000 lightning strikes recorded nation-wide and 1400 in Wellington.
State Highway 58 between Porirua and Manor Park was closed due to flooding and slips.
Photos published on social media suggested that parts of the newly laid road had been lifted by flooding.
Lightning set trees alight in Akatarawa and Martinborough but it is not clear if a house fire in Upper Hutt was weather related.
The weather disrupted public transport and forced the cancellation of a number of events, including the Worlds Big Sleep out at McEwan Park in Petone.
Organiser Phil Sprey said he had no choice but to abandon the event on Saturday night due to lightning.
'The health and safety of the public, artists, production crew and volunteers was always a priority giving us no choice.'
The wind also proved a problem for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletics Association Championships in Newtown Park.
On Saturday a two tonne pole vault cover was lifted into the air, injuring two spectators.
Organisers said it was a 'freak gust' and nearby tents were undamaged.
On Sunday evening NZ Transport Agency systems manager Mark Owen said it had been a long day dealing with surface flooding and slips.
State Highway 58 remains closed, between Pauatahanui Roundabout in Whitby through to Manor Park.
He said crews would be working hard overnight to open the road but it was unclear if it would re-open by Monday morning.
'While the highway network has withstood the weather onslaught and bounced back quickly, we want to remind road users that further slips could occur, as the ground dries out, potentially causing further damage and travel delays.'
Meteorologist Paul Ngamanu predicted that Monday would be fine and Wellingtonians should look forward to a week of good weather.
The intensity of the storm had been unusual and he said it had been a memorable weekend for meteorologists.
'I can't recall the last time I saw such a prolonged period of thunder and lightning, so you could say that has been exciting.'
The heaviest rainfall had been in Wainuiomata where 119mm fell in a 24-hour period. The rainfall for other areas included 115mm (Porirua City), 76mm (Lower Hutt), 46mm (Kelburn) and 41mm at Wellington Airport.
A feature of the thunderstorm was the impact it had on local weather. He said such conditions can cause very localised wind gusts like the one that that lifted a two-tonne cover at the athletics championship.
Wellington recorded 1400 lightning strikes and nationally there had been more than 100,000.
That was a very high figure for Wellington and to get so much localised lightning of that intensity in New Zealand was a rarity.
It was also unusual to have a storm that caused local fires.
Ngamanu said Wellingtonians will be able to put away their storm gear this week and can look forward to a return to summer weather.