Spring storms cause chaos across New Zealand to end November
Friday, 1 December 2017
Many Kiwis will be glad to see the back of November after the last week of daytime deluges, severe thunderstorms and flash flooding.
Even online weather source WeatherWatch.co.nz begged for the adverse forecasts to end, as downpours and even hail hit throughout the country.
According to the website, the conditions were caused by a high 'wider than Australia and centred quite a distance east of New Zealand'.
While spring storms are typical this time of year, residents all over the country are still cleaning up the mess.
READ MORE:
*** Lightning strikes Taranaki house, huge hailstones fall
* Central Otago flooding sparks evacuations, road closures, cuts power and water supplies
* Severe thunderstorm warning for North, South Islands after downpour hits Alexandra
* Streets flood in heavy rain, lightning splits a tree
* Hundreds of lightning strikes across Auckland as surprise spring storm heads east and south**
The Central Otago town Roxburgh was hit first, suffering landslips, flooded houses and evacuations over a weekend.
Amid significant rainfall, Reservoir Creek was subjected to a flash flood strong enough to carry a tree, measuring at least 30 metres, down the creek.
1 of 2 wash outs outside if Roxburgh pic.twitter.com/ryqQZNiTBu
— Chanelle (@Chandy229) November 26, 2017
The town remained 'cut off' the following day with State Highway 8 closed in both directions, with several residents 'completely isolated', including Central Otago District councillor Stephen Jeffery of Teviot Valley.
But that was just the beginning, as WeatherWatch forecasted the conditions to stick around all week.
'We have an unusual set up where day after day we're going to see a repeat performance of daytime downpours producing isolated thunderstorms, hail and even flash flooding.' head forecaster Philip Duncan said on November 27.
'Some rainfall totals are quite high and with very little wind to move the clouds we can see localised flash flooding like we did (on November 26).'
The following night, only 45km up the road, fire and emergency crews were called to five flooding events in Alexandra and Clyde.
It wasn't just the South Island bearing the brunt of the storm either.
#NewPlymouth: Thunderstorms moving in towards you, or heavy downpours. Northern #Taranaki too. Flash flooding possible. pic.twitter.com/bWjvH4CXJM
— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) November 30, 2017
In north Taranaki, lightning struck a house and hail stones as big as golf balls fell in isolated thunderstorms.
Just 24 hours away from the first day of summer, and after high temperatures and clear settled weather, ominous black thunderclouds gathered north of New Plymouth in the late afternoon.
Earlier in the week, thunderstorms bubbled up around the Central Plateau and the Southern Alps.
WeatherWatch.co.nz advised motorists and locals to 'take extreme care' as the heavy downpours were predicted to cause surface and flash flooding.
Pahiatua wasn't so lucky, as roofs collapsed under the water's weight amid a violent thunder storm, while a supermarket became water-logged.
The sudden thunder storm left chaos in its wake, much like it did when it struck across Auckland.
Hundreds of lightning strikes, barrelling thunder and large hailstones thumped the region on Tuesday.
There were 870 lightning strikes recorded across the country between 11am and 4.45pm, with 370 of those in Auckland, a MetService spokeswoman said.
Flooding in Pukekohe. #weatherbomb @PhilipDuncan @WeatherWatchNZ pic.twitter.com/5jkbtJv8vG
— Andrew (@AndrewKayNZ) November 30, 2017
Thunderstorms continued across central and northern regions of the North Island on Wednesday afternoon, with widespread downpours across south Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty.
Spare a thought for our Australian counterparts, who are waiting for record-breaking rain to bear down on the southeast of the country.
The Bureau of Meteorology, the Australian Government agency responsible for providing weather services, issued a severe weather warning for all of Victoria.
It's preparing for what could be the state's most significant rain event in more than 20 years, following a sweltering end to spring.
Melbourne is set to get one month's worth of rain in just two days - up to more than 100 millimetres of rain over Friday and Saturday.
Australian media outlets are calling it an unprecedented weather event with rainfall so heavy it is expected to cause major flooding throughout the state.