Overnight deluge in Auckland was first significant rainfall for nine months

Thursday, 25 June 2020

Thundery weather is set to linger over much of the North Island this weekend.

The heavy downpour which hit overnight was the first significant rainfall in the Auckland region for nine months, according to weather experts.

Thunderstorms hammered the upper North Island, with two weeks' worth of rain falling overnight in Auckland.

MetService has issued a severe weather watch for south Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula, as the bad weather heads down the country.

NIWA's principal forecaster Chris Brandolino said the overnight rain marked the first time since October last year that more than 50mm of rain had fallen in the Auckland area in one day.

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“This is the first significant rainfall we've seen since last year, but it should be easing off by now with just a few showers,” Brandolino said.

There was surface flooding in many areas across the city.

MetService meteorologist, Stephen Glassey said the rain in Auckland should ease as the day progresses but for those further down the country, in Gisbourne and the Bay of Plenty, heavy rain was on the way.

Glassey said between 2am and 6am Auckland Airport reported 47mm of rain, which was “quite unusual.”

“It was pretty intense rain overnight, overall, from 7pm until the morning there was 65.6mm of rain recorded near the airport.

“Heavy rain was also recorded on Waiheke Island and in the Hunuas,” Glassey said.

The rain overnight had been equivalent to around two weeks' worth of rain, Glassey said.

Between 5am and 6am residents in south Auckland may also have been awoken by thunder and lightning with more than 20 lightning strikes hitting the area, Glassey said.

A spokeswoman for Watercare said she was “delighted” to see some significant rainfall overnight, as the entire region has been in severe drought.

“This is the most rainfall we've received since September 2019. Since yesterday, our total dam storage has risen by almost three per cent, which is very pleasing.'

On Wednesday Auckland's dams were 44.8 percent full, now they were 47.1 percent full. Usually at this time of year the dams are 78.5 percent full, the spokeswoman said.

The overnight rain is also causing motorists headaches as surface flooding on the southern motorway citybound caused a lane to be blocked during the morning commute.

There are long delays from Drury up to Manukau NZTA said in a tweet.

Auckland Transport also reminded motorists to take extra care during their morning commute as there were “patches of surface flooding” on many roads across Auckland.

'Please stay alert, keep your lights on, increase following distances and allow extra time for your morning commute today,” it said.

During the weekend most of the country would see more rain Glassey said.