Winds ground flights, bowl caravan

Strong winds grounded flights and bowled a caravan, and surface flooding affected some areas around Otago as wild weather made its way up the country yesterday.

In a three-hour period between about 2pm and 5pm yesterday, wind and rain swept across Dunedin, forcing a halt to flights in and out of Dunedin Airport and causing surface flooding in Portobello Rd during a high tide.

Wild winds forced the closure of parts of two state highways last night.

State Highway 6 at Haast Pass remains closed this morning owing de to tree debris on the road. 

Debris also caused the closure of the Kaiapoi-to-Woodend section of SH1 in Canterbury yesterday.

MetService meteorologist Tom Adams said Dunedin's strongest wind gust was 128kmh, at Swampy Summit, while at the airport winds gusted to 93kmh.

The regions did not escape the blustery conditions, Oamaru recording gusts of up to 91kmh and Roxburgh 83kmh.

Areas of Otago recorded up to 30mm of rain, with 13mm per hour recorded in some areas.

Police received information from a member of the public that high winds caused a motorcyclist to crash in Portobello Rd but they were uninjured, she said.

Police received some calls advising them of road conditions around the region but they did not have to attend, the spokeswoman said.

Surface flooding was reported on SH6 from Lake Hayes to Queenstown, parts of the Lindis Pass and low-lying side streets in Alexandra, she said.

Central Otago police warned motorists to take care on SH85 between Ranfurly and Omakau after high winds blew over a caravan near Lauder.

Senior Constable Darren Cox said wind gusts of up to 110kmh were making it difficult for motorists.

Nobody was injured when the caravan was blown over about 11am. It blocked one lane of the highway for a short time.

Air passengers experienced delays and cancellations because of the winds.

Dunedin Airport marketing and communications manager Megan Crawford said flights were cancelled or delayed.

An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said flights from Christchurch to Dunedin and Wellington to Dunedin got turned back, causing cancellations of the return flights.

Another flight from Wellington to Dunedin was diverted to Christchurch, causing the cancellation of that return flight.

At least one other flight was delayed, the spokeswoman said.

The West Coast was also hammered by severe weather and under a tornado and thunderstorm watch. Pukekura was hit with a 30-minute hailstorm.

Two other vehicles were overturned yesterday; a a trailer on SH73 and a camper van on SH79 between Geraldine and Fairlie.

No-one was hurt.

Areas south of Otira were expecting up to 180mm of rain from midnight last night, while north of Otira 140mm was expected.

rhys.chamberlain@odt.co.nz

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