Photo: 123RF
Parts of the South Island are in for heavy rain with warnings for areas of Tasman and Marlborough.
Strong winds hitting central New Zealand meant flights at Wellington Airport have been cancelled and others diverted.
"A band of cloud draped across the northern parts of the South Island - it's bringing some heavy rainfall in towards that western coast of the South Island ... but also up to places like the western part of the Tasman district," MetService forecaster John Law said.
"That rain is also spilling across the main divide into Canterbury as well."
☔A Heavy Rain Watch has been issued for Wellington and Wairarapa from 12pm to 9pm as a southerly push brings a burst of rain in short time
— MetService (@MetService) October 16, 2023
Some areas have the potential for issues such as localised surface pooling of water, and possible minor disruptions to road travel pic.twitter.com/rl4uFpt0wR
Tasman about and west of Motueka, Nelson Lakes, and Buller and Grey Districts were under an orange heavy rain warning until 1pm.
A heavy rain watch was in place for Marlborough northwest of Awatere Valley, and Tasman east of Motueka excluding Nelson Lakes until 6pm.
A heavy rain watch was in place for Wellington, Wairarapa including the Tararua Ranges from noon until 9pm.
Cooler temperatures in the south brought a chance of snowfall across the MacKenzie Basin, mainly above 600 metres, with the heaviest falls above 800m, Law said.
There was a "real contrast" of temperatures across the country on Tuesday with Napier forecast to reach 25C, but in the south, Ashburton was 10C, he said.
'A pretty windy story'
Strong north-westerlies buffeting the central part of the country continued into Tuesday morning.
At Wellington Airport, seven arriving flights were cancelled and two diverted due to the high wind- and more were expected, airport spokesperson Phil Rennie said.
Cancellations were having a flow-on effect on departing flights, he said.
Conditions should ease in the early afternoon but passengers were advised to check with their airlines for updated information on affected flights.
"A pretty windy story through central parts of the country especially Wellington and the Wairarapa," MetService's John Law said.
⚡️☔️It's an electrifying time ahead for parts of the North Island as thunderstorms are expected to pop up this afternoon and evening
— MetService (@MetService) October 16, 2023
Thunderstorms bring intense bursts of rain as they pass through. Today is definitely a good day to have the Rain Radar close by! pic.twitter.com/IjcpAZq75O
MetService said there may even thunderstorms in Wellington but they would ease during the morning before making an appearance over the central and western North Island in the afternoon.
North-westerly winds and a changeable weather pattern were back to stay for the season, he said.
"This is very much the pattern we've got this spring - it's real transitory, it's real changing.
"We had that period where we had very little wind here in Wellington - a bit of a blessing - but I think we're now back into a fairly classic pattern of north-westerlies."
Power still out in parts of Canterbury after weekend gales
Hundreds of properties remain without power across North Canterbury, after strong winds at the weekend caused widespread damage.
Gusts of up to 200kilometres per hour were recorded in parts of Canterbury.
MainPower said 470 customers were still without electricity across the Waimakariri and Hurunui districts.
"MainPower crews, contractors and support teams from other networks are working to identify faults and continue power restoration efforts, where safe to do so," it said.
"Due to the difficulty in confirming restoration timeframes as large numbers of faults continue to be identified, customers currently without power should be preparing to be without power for multiple days, depending on the complexity of the work. Isolated areas are expected to take longer due to access issues."
So far, 20,000 connections have been restored.
