Covering period of Sunday 12 - Tuesday 14 February

The impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle are being felt as the extreme weather system bears down on Aotearoa New Zealand.

Gale force winds have been recorded at many sites already: Kaitaia 90km/hr gust, Purerua 95km/h gust, Kerikeri 80km/h gust and Cape Reinga a slightly more exposed site recorded 140km/h wind gust. These have already cause power outages across Northland and on Waiheke Island, and Whangaparaoa 120km/hr and winds closed the Auckland Bridge as of 3pm today. Waves of nearly 11 metres have been recorded at the Bay of Islands at 4pm today.

The whole of the North Island is on a Severe Weather Warning for Strong Wind - with Northland, Coromandel, Auckland including Great Barrier Island on the highest wind alert – MetService Red Warning.

Lisa Murray Head of Weather Communications explains, “I can’t remember a time when the whole of the North Island was on a wind warning. This is a huge sprawling weather system affecting the country.”

“The worst affected areas can expect 350-450mm of rain, 120-140km/hr wind gusts, and dangerous waves and coastal inundation, especially at high tide.”

MetService Red Warnings for Heavy Rain are in place for Northland, Auckland, Tairāwhiti Gisborne north of Tolaga Bay, and Coromandel. These warnings cover from today (Sunday) through to Tuesday (apart from Northland which will ease on Tuesday) with the weather already affecting areas in the north.

Orange Warnings for Heavy Rain are in place for Bay of Plenty, the rest of the east coast of the North Island, parts of the Marlborough including Kaikoura.

“Extreme rain and wind are expected for many North Island regions, accompanied by phenomenal seas along northern and eastern shores, and significant storm surge near, and slightly in advance of, the cyclones centre,” Lisa sums up the event.

“The wind of this strength combined with rain means rain could be almost horizontal making it very difficult to walk in and rain could get under the eaves of houses adding to the flooding risk. 
“This is a really extreme and impactful event. People could lose power or become isolated. Listen to local authorities and your local Civil Defence and know where your local evacuation centre is,” adds Lisa.

“While the system has been “downgraded” from a tropical cyclone, this does not mean it has weakened in terms of impacts to New Zealand. In fact, it is intensifying and spreading the strong wind and heavy rain across a wider area affecting the whole of the North Island in some way. At this point MetService will refer to weather system as Cyclone Gabrielle,” adds Lisa.

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