Spring is here as wild weather continues to pummel capital
Monday, 16 September 2024
As the capital is pummelled by rain and hail, most Wellingtonians must be thinking: is this an intro for the following three months?
Springtime in Wellington is colloquially known as “shitsville,” coined by printer Amy Herself and her brother Adam Shand.
After a brief “Spring 1”, September to December in Wellington is a non-stop avalanche of rain, wind, and occasionally hail: as seen today, with hail in Karori at 8.30am.
Wellington City Council urged commuters to take care as persistent rain could bring more slips to the region, as a slip has partially closed State Highway 58, near Whitby.
This comes after a slip blocked a Newtown cycle lane during Monday’s evening rush hour.
A Waka Kotahi spokesperson said State Highway 58 was now closed for westbound traffic between Postgate Drive and the Paremata Roundabout.
“The slip was reported around 10am. Road crews are at the scene assessing the slip and working to clear the westbound lane.”
According to MetService forecaster Paul Ngamanu, Tuesday morning’s heavy rain will ease to ease to showers by the afternoon.
“The front that we’ve seen bring snow to the South Island is expected to come through Wellington around the middle of the day,” Ngamanu said.
But as the rain eases, southwest winds are due to rise to gales - with the possibility of hail.
From midday through to 9pm, a road snowfall warning is in place for Remutaka Hill Rd on State Highway 2 as rain above 400 metres is predicted to turn to snow.
Snow may affect the top of the road this afternoon, and about 1cm may accumulate at the summit.
Temperatures aren’t set to break into double digits, with a high of 9C and a low of 4C for Wellington.
But on Wednesday the sun is set to return with a high of 13C, creeping up to 14C on a showery Thursday and Friday.
On Monday evening, a landslip blocked a Newtown cycle lane during rush hour.
The slip blocked the uphill cycleway on Crawford Rd, and is understood to have come down about 4pm.
Local resident Graeme Tuckett was travelling through the area when he spotted the “sizeable slip”.
“Luckily it hadn’t spilled onto the road, but if the cycle lane hadn’t been there it would have taken out a bunch of parked cars,” Tuckett said.
A spokesperson for Wellington City Council confirmed they were aware of the slip and contractors were on site.
“We urge commuters to take care over the next couple of days due to the possibility that the persistent rain may bring down more slips.”
Ngamanu said the rain on Monday started about 7am and it had “pretty much been raining ever since”.
Lower Hutt received the brunt of the bad weather, recording a total of 25mm across the day, but was closely followed by Kelburn with 24mm and Porirua with 17mm.
Wellington Airport recorded 15mm of rain, he said.