Cyclone Hale is set to drag more heavy rain and wild winds over much of the North Island as a subtropical low arrives from the South Pacific.
The cyclone was moving east-southeast of New Caledonia on Sunday morning and was expected to hit Coromandel, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay on Tuesday and Wednesday.
While a Niwa forecast has it slamming into East Cape overnight on Tuesday, the latest update from MetService shows Cyclone Hale sweeping south over Coromandel Tuesday evening, moving across to southern Waikato, then pushing southeast across Taupō and landing in Hawke’s Bay on Wednesday night.
Given there is still uncertainty about its path, MetService is urging people to brace for heavy rain, gale or severe gale winds and large waves in northern and central New Zealand from Monday evening right through to Thursday morning.
There is some chance it may hit Tauranga, which experienced major downpours last week, as well as Auckland, Wellington, Waikato, Wairarapa and eastern Marlborough.
“Some models just about plant it right in Tauranga Harbour. It’s pretty intense,” MetService forecaster Sonja Farmer said, while one model from Fiji saw it pass east of New Zealand.
Cyclone Hale was reclassified as a subtropical low on Sunday night due to the cooler sea temperatures, but this did not mean it would be any less severe, Farmer said.
“It will still deepen as a subtropical low, as it has a trough above it, and bring severe weather to the North Island.”
Rain watches in place for the Coromandel and along the east coast of the North Island from Gisborne to Hawke’s Bay will likely turn to warnings as the track of Cyclone Hale becomes more obvious, Farmer said.
High pressure is expected to take over later in the week, pushing what’s left of the cyclone off to the east, Farmer said.
People in northern and central parts of the country should keep watch of forecasts as the cyclone’s path becomes clearer, Farmer said.
Heavy rain lashed parts of the lower North Island on Saturday and more wet weather is expected to hit the eastern side of the island over the next two days.
Bluebridge ferry cancelled six of its sailings on Sunday – three from Wellington and three from Picton – due to strong winds and large swells, and two InterIslander Kaiarahi sailings at 1:00pm and 6:30pm have been cancelled.
Heavy rainfall in Gisborne over the weekend lead to a wastewater discharge, prompting a warning from the district council not to swim, fish, or gather shellfish from the Tūranganui River or nearby beaches for at least five days.
MetService meteorologist John Law said the heavy rain fall – which peaked at 47mm of rain in one hour on Saturday evening in the ranges behind Gisborne and 22mm of rain in one hour in Gisborne – was a “precursor of things to come”.
The damp weather did not, however, deter Panos Armaos from jumping into Wellington harbour on Sunday as part of the Greek Orthodox Church blessing of the water for the Orthodox new year.
Most years saw numerous people jumping in after a cross in the water and the person who retrieved the cross got blessed.
Armaos got the blessing because Wellington’s weather was so dismal on Sunday that everyone else elected to stay dry.
Source : National
