Heavy rain showers hit Auckland as seen in Newmarket. Photo \/ Dean Purcell <\/p>\n
While New Zealanders got a taste of spring last week, today's weather has been anything but spring-like.<\/p>\n
MetService forecaster Sonja Farmer says New Zealand is covered by \"fairly scattered cloud, certainly cold showery-looking cloud\", calling today's weather a \"mixed bag\".<\/p>\n
\"There has been a sweeping through of frontal activity today which accounts for all those showers that have come through and that abrupt change,\" she said.<\/p>\n
A strong wind watch remains in place for Auckland, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula and Waikato north of Hamilton. That watch is expected to lift later this evening.<\/p>\n
Strong southwesterlies were expected in Auckland, with some gusts reaching 90km\/h in exposed places.<\/p>\n
A transformer has blown in Beach Haven, leaving many residents on Auckland's North Shore without power.<\/p>\n
Vector received reports of the outage at 8.38pm.<\/p>\n
Although the country is in spring, Farmer said there was a \"definitely chill\" in the air across the country.<\/p>\n
Auckland reached a high of 13C, 3C cooler than the regular spring temperature.<\/p>\n
Earlier this afternoon Auckland dropped just below 11C.<\/p>\n
8 Sep, 2021 04:46 AMQuick Read<\/p>\n
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Aucklanders had some rain today, but Farmer said it wasn't heavy.<\/p>\n
The Arataki visitor centre in West Auckland recorded 19mm since midnight. But the majority fell between 8am and 3pm. Similar numbers were recorded across Auckland.<\/p>\n
\"It's been a fairly steady rainfall out that way,\" she said.<\/p>\n
With the majority of the country in alert level 2, Farmer is warning motorists to be careful on the roads.<\/p>\n
A number of road snowfall warnings have been issued for Desert Road, Arthur's Pass, Lewis Pass and Milford Road.<\/p>\n
\"If you do want to get out and about to blow out the cobwebs you have to be careful,\" Farmer said.<\/p>\n
MetService said a \"few snow flurries\" may affect Lewis Pass overnight, with the possibility of 1 cm or less near the summit.<\/p>\n
Snow may affect higher parts of Arthur's Pass overnight, where 1 to 2 cm of snow may settle near the summit.<\/p>\n
On Milford Road 2 to 4cm of snow may settle above about 800m, with rain also expected overnight.<\/p>\n
While only 1 to 2 cm of snow may settle near the summit on Desert Road.<\/p>\n
MetService has also issued a heavy snow watch for Fiordland; that watch is expected to lift this evening.<\/p>\n
Napier reached a high of 19C, which was the warmest region, while Balclutha had the coolest temperature of 4.8C.<\/p>\n
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Weather: Rain, strong winds, hail and snow batter New Zealand - New Zealand Herald<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Heavy rain showers hit Auckland as seen in Newmarket. Photo \/ Dean Purcell While New Zealanders got a taste of spring last week, today's weather has been anything but spring-like. MetService forecaster Sonja Farmer says New Zealand is covered by \"fairly scattered cloud, certainly cold showery-looking cloud\", calling today's weather a \"mixed bag\" Continue reading