Northland bracing for 36-hour ‘multi-hazard’ weather event

The ‘multi-hazard’ weather event is expected to hit the upper North Island at 4pm today, Wednesday. A rare Metservice red rain warning has been issued east of Kaikohe, from Doubtless Bay to Whangarei, forecasting up to 320 millimetres by Friday. Rainfall is expected to peak at around 40mm/hour on Thursday afternoon. 

Hazards include rising rivers, significant flooding and possible slips. There could also be dangerous road conditions and closures.

Meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane told rova it’s not an isolated event.

“We have a very deep low-pressure system drifting down towards Aotearoa New Zealand from the north and it's carrying a lot of warm and moist air,” she said. 

As of midday Wednesday, orange rain warnings also cover:

• The remainder of Northland, from 4pm Wednesday

• Great Barrier Island, from 3am Thursday

• Auckland from Whangaparaoa northwards, from 3am Thursday

• Coromandel Peninsula, from 6am Thursday

• Bay of Plenty west of Whakatane, from 9am Thursday

• Tasman west of Motueka, from 10am Thursday

• Richmond and Bryant Ranges, from 6pm Thursday

Metservice could update timelines and warnings, so stay up to date here, or on social media.

Intense winds are expected to add a degree of risk. Northland and Auckland are both under warnings, with gusts of 120km/hour possible in exposed places. 

“We're expecting very strong winds, possibly approaching severe gale. That combination of very heavy rain, very strong winds, and also the impact on the sea conditions - we're expecting large waves and heavy swell,” said Makgabutlane.

She added there’s a high chance the rest of Northland will be upgraded to a red warning. 

“This is a long weather system so we'll continue to see how things are going, and be in contact with agencies such as the Council, that have more information on how things are on the ground. If it looks like things might be heading towards a red warning, that information will be shared.”

Red warnings are rare, reserved for the most severe events. There have been approximately 20 since the system was introduced in 2019. Metservice advises to stay out of floodwaters, self-evacuate if needed, and be ready for power/communication outages.