21 Feb 2018

Gita's final sting: More wild weather for deep south

12:25 pm on 21 February 2018

While most of the South Island is out of the woods when it comes to the wild weather, a heavy rain warning remains in place for Dunedin and North Otago.

Ex-tropical cyclone Gita had moved away from the country and was currently sitting off the east coast of the South Island.

MetService meteorologist Peter Little said the impact of the storm was slowly easing.

"Gita now lies east of Banks Peninsula and continues to move slowly away to the south-east, so we are seeing most of the rainfall now from south Canterbury down towards Otago."

However MetService meteorologist Claire Flynn said Gita still had a sting in its tail for those in the deep south where 30 to 50 millimetres of rain could fall until 6pm.

"Because the area had already had high rainfall, the extra rain could lead to flooding and slips and motorists were warned to take care," she said.

Ms Flynn said while thunderstorms and rain would continue on the West Coast, most of the areas that bore the brunt of the storm would have cleared to blue skies by tomorrow.

Earlier today meteorologist Lisa Murray said the east coast of the South Island was still experiencing strong winds, with rain, showers and swells.

Rain in Canterbury would continue for a while as would gale force south westerly winds, until the system pulled away from the country.

There were still some heavy falls on the West Coast, she said.

"Kaikōura, even before midnight last night, areas there had received over 250mm of rain and they got some really strong gusts around that region and some large swells too," Ms Murray said.

"Taranaki got 130 km/h gusts in that area up to 7pm. There were waves of over 8m recorded around that northern Taranaki Peninsula," she said.

Today's forecast

Whangarei

Fine spells and a few showers. Westerlies. High 26°C; Low 16°C

Auckland

Cloudy periods, a few showers. Westerlies. High 24°C; Low 17°C

Hamilton

A few showers more frequent this evening. Northwesterlies. High 23°C; Low 15°C

Tauranga

Mainly fine, isolated showers until afternoon. Westerlies. High 23.6°C; Low 17°C

New Plymouth

Fine spells and isolated showers. Strong northwesterly easing morning. High 21.6°C; Low 16°C

Wellington

A few showers, mainly north of the city, with strong northerlies. Evening rain with southerly change. High 21°C; Low 12°C

Nelson

Showers, heavy at times from midday. Northwesterlies. High 21°C; Low 12°C

Westport

Rain, heavy at times. Northwesterly turning southeast in the evening. High 19°C; Low 11°C

Greymouth

Rain, heavy at times, easing from afternoon then clearing evening. Gusty easterlies. High 19°C; Low 10°C

Christchurch

Rain, heavy at times easing tonight. Strong southwesterlies, easing from afternoon. High 15°C; Low 9°C

Dunedin

Rain with heavy falls, easing to a few showers this evening. Southeasterly changing southwest. High 13°C; Low 10°C

Invercargill

Rain easing to a few showers. Southeasterlies gradually turning southwest. High 13°C; Low 8°C

- MetService

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