Gusts of up to 130kmh have been hitting the capital and gales have brought down trees across the region.
Police said emergency services received reports of a man suffering critical injuries on Lookout Rd about 9.20am.
The man was taken to hospital but died a short time later.
Police said the death would be referred to the Coroner.
The death prompted the Wellington City Council to urge people to stay out of parks and reserves due to falling trees and branches.
Wellington City Council Chief Operating Officers James Roberts told RNZ at the hillside that there was ongoing danger due to the high gusts and the trees in the area.
"We are asking people to keep out of the bush as much as possible at the moment."
Roberts said once the winds got above 90kmh, branches could become dangerous.
The winds have damaged homes, caused flight delays and left thousands without power.
It comes a day after wild weather lashed much of the South Island, bringing down trees, closing roads and causing major disruptions to many areas.
At 12.25pm Powerco's website showed more than 10,000 outages, most in the lower North Island, and the provider said crews were out trying to deal with these.
Powerco said people should stay away from downed powerlines and should always treat them as live.
In Wairarapa, some schools, roads and businesses are closed, there are widespread power outages and buses are suspended, while authorities urge people to hunker down indoors.
Passengers in limbo
Passengers travelling through Wellington Airport are facing delays as high winds delay or cancel several flights.
Air New Zealand has paused flights in and out of the airport until 1pm due to the winds.
Sophie Palmer was returning from a wedding in Hamilton but the final leg of her journey between Wellington and Blenheim has now been cancelled.
"So, we arrived at approximately 8am this morning, in from Hamilton and it's been a bit of backwards and forwards. A few delays, flight changes, cancellations and our flight changes again.
"So, we're just sticking with the process and honestly hoping we can get somewhere tonight."
Palmer said her flight into Wellington this morning had a rocky landing.
"You could see a few people pretty stressed out and a lot of people gripping their seats pretty hard it was a scary flight coming in for sure."
She said her group had been split up and are heading to Auckland on two different flights, but even so she said there were a lot more people in worse situations.
"[The] saying is when it's out of your control [you have] just got to let things be and I think that's the good ol Kiwi way."
The winds prompted several emergency callouts in the Wellington region overnight.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand responded to reports of sheets of roofing lifting in Mornington and solar panels from a street light blown off in Kilbirnie, and attended reports of a roof lifting in Martinborough late on Monday night.
The windows of a house in Carterton have been blown in and trees have been down in the Wairarapa, with one tree blocking State Highway 2 at Clareville for a time.
South Island
In the upper South Island, flooding has closed sections of State Highway 7 (Lewis Pass) and SH69.
Strong winds have knocked out power to almost 500 properties in North Canterbury.
The outages are around Oxford, Lewis Pass, Hanmer Springs, Culverden and the Inland Kaikōura Road.
MainPower is also warning that strong winds forecast for Thursday could result in power cuts to about 20,000 homes and businesses in its area.
In central Christchurch, branches have come down including in Latimer Square and along the Avon River beside Margaret Mahy Family Playground.
Meanwhile, people on the sodden West Coast are being urged to prepare for more heavy rain.
Orange heavy rain warnings have been issued for Fiordland and the Westland ranges from midnight on Wednesday.
Claire Brown, from West Coast Emergency Management, says the region is already saturated.
"We would expect that there might be some surface flooding over the course of Thursday," she says.
"If there are preparations that you should be taking as a precaution, we would be strongly encouraging that you have a look at that today and tomorrow."
