- The red strong wind warning for Canterbury about and west of SH1 has now been lifted.
- Power outages in parts of South Island due to fallen trees and wind
- Flooding reported on SH6 in Central Otago, SH73 on West Coast
The red wind warning for the Canterbury region has been lifted, after severe gale force winds covered much of the South Island Sunday.
The warning was issued about and west of the foothills and west of State Highway 1, south of the Rakaia River.
MetService recorded gusts across the region, peaking at 224km/h on Mt Hutt, as the system moved north across Canterbury.
MetService previously warned the wind could pose a threat to life from flying items and falling trees.
"We want to thank Cantabrians for heeding the warning so far," he said. "It is always important to consider how these winds may impact you and your property and take action to mitigate any impacts."
Emergency Management Canterbury continue to monitor the situation.
"We did see some severe winds overnight. The Geraldine Forest experienced gusts of 190km/h and down on the Ashburton Plains we saw gusts 110km/h.
"Fortunately, we didn't experience the fires that we potentially could have, so that's fantastic that everyone did check on those old fires.
"The level of power outages is no more significant than other wind events that we have across Canterbury during the spring, summer period."
Power outages
Just under 400 homes are still without power in South Canterbury this afternoon after strong winds brought down lines.
Alpine Energy said the affected areas are around Waimate and the Rangitata and crews aimed to have power restored this afternoon, depending on conditions.
Orion was reporting that just over 30 homes in its area did not have power, mainly around Arthur's Pass and Rakaia Gorge.
Flooding in Central Otago, West Coast
Orange level wind and rain warnings had lifted for the lower South Island by 10am but earlier contractors for NZ Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi were called out to incidents of fallen trees and signage on highways.
Contractors had also been dispatched after reports of flooding on SH6 in Central Otago this morning, and surface flooding on SH73 between Kumara Junction and Arthur’s Pass, an NZTA spokesman said.
NZTA has a general warning in place due to strong winds, advising road users to take extra care, especially those operating light or high-sided vehicles. In Canterbury, people were advised to avoid travel due to dangerous driving conditions.
Grey District council said there were reports of roofs lifting and confirmed lampposts were down in a few areas including Bright St and Cobden.
"Please stay home, and report problems via our Snap Send Solve app, or by phoning us. Staff and contractors are out and about," the council said in a Facebook post.
Fire and Emergency said crews were also called to a house where about six sheets of iron had blown loose off a verandah roof.
NZTA has a general warning in place due to strong winds, advising road users to take extra care, especially those operating light or high-sided vehicles. In Canterbury, people were advised to avoid travel due to dangerous driving conditions.
In Queenstown, it was a wet and windy start. Light snowfall on the Crown Range Road has been cleared, as have a few minor rock falls.
With rain still falling, please drive with care as surface flooding and more rockfalls were likely across the network, a spokesman for the Queenstown Lakes District Council said.
In Southland, the Milford Road (SH94) was closed due to heavy overnight rain increasing the avalanche hazard but opened at 10am today.
The avalanche risk was moderate, and the road would remain open throughout Sunday, the Milford Road Alliance advised.
However, Monday was looking unsettled and travel disruptions over the day were possible as well as an early overnight closure. More rain was forecast for the area during the week.
Rain and gusts in South
Meteorologist David Miller says the front brought about 60mm of rain to Fiordland overnight, as well as very strong gusts to Southland, Otago and Canterbury.
"In Canterbury in the High Country we are seeing some pretty extreme gusts up at Mt Hutt. Very, very strong winds - 121 knots, so that's about 220 kilometres per hour gusts," Miller said.
Gusts of 120km/h also hit Mid Dome in Southland and about 150km/h have hit Lamb Hill in Otago.
A 165km/h gust was recorded at Puysegur Point, 135km/h at Roxburgh Airport and 120km/h at Mid Dome and Mt Kaukau.
Miller said the front moved through Fiordland overnight and was making its way through Southland, Clutha and the southern part of Westland this morning.
On the West Coast, people were warned to prepare for a deluge with an orange heavy rain warning in place. Swells of up to 5.5 metres are expected from Jackson Bay up to Karamea during high tide.
Overnight 83mm rainfall hit Mt Cook Village, 74.4mm at Franz Josef and 64.4mm at Milford Sound Airport.
Waitaki fire under control
Firefighters were dampening down a vegetation fire which broke out due to downed power lines in the Waitaki District this morning.
Fire and Emergency NZ said a small fire at Windsor Park, north-east of Oamaru, was under control and crews were expected to leave the scene later this morning. A spokesperson says the strong wind warnings have caused far fewer issues than anticipated.
Fire and Emergency hoped there would not be another round of preventable blazes as high winds rolled across Canterbury.
District Commander Rob Hands said earlier in the week, firefighters were kept busy extinguishing blazes that shouldn't have happened.
Hands said fire crews from 90 brigades would be ready to deal with any problems today.
Farmers who lit outdoor fires in recent weeks are urged to check they are fully extinguished.
- Additional reporting ODT Online
