More wild weather is on the way, with a severe weather warning issued for large parts of the South Island and strong winds expected in the lower North Island.
After July saw record levels of rain, further downpours are expected on the West Coast and central parts of the South Island, starting from early on Tuesday.
MetService has issued five heavy rain warnings and two heavy rain watches. It is thought 170 millimetres of rain could fall in the Westland ranges, south of Harihari, in the 14 hours from 4am.
The warnings are expected to be in place until at least the early evening, with one – for the headwaters of the Canterbury lakes and rivers south of Arthur’s Pass – in place until 11pm.
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Franz Josef had 41mm of rain fall already by 7am on Tuesday with “a lot more to come”, a MetService spokesperson said.
A strong wind warning has also been issued for the Canterbury high country between 1am and 7pm, with northwest gales and gusts of 120kph possible in exposed places.
MetService recorded a gust of 109kph at Aoraki/Mt Cook overnight and gusts of up to 89kph at Le Bons Bay on Banks Peninsula.
Strong winds were affecting state highways in Canterbury and Otago, Waka Kotahi said.
The foothills near Oxford in North Canterbury are covered with snow on Monday.
State Highway 8 from Tekapo to Pukaki had been closed due to fallen trees between Braeman Rd and Hayman Rd.
SH94 from Te Anau to Milford, between Hollyford Rd Junction to Donne River Bridge was closed due to an avalanche hazard.
It could reopen mid-morning on Tuesday, subject to observations and rain easing, a Waka Kotahi spokesperson said.
A 24-hour strong wind watch is in place for areas south of Masterton, Wellington and Marlborough including the Sounds, between 10am on Tuesday and 10am on Wednesday.
Strong winds are also expected on Banks Peninsula and in parts of Otago, Southland and Stewart Island. North to northwest winds may approach severe gales in exposed places.
Anthony Phleps/Stuff
Flood water sits at a vineyard on Battys Rd in Blenheim on Monday.
Across the Whakatipu Basin, from Gibbston Valley to Kingston heavy rain and high winds are expected.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council warned people travelling to watch for surface flooding and rock/tree falls.
It was a similar story on the Crown Range, with heavy rain and warm temperatures.
MetService meteorologist Fulong Lu said such weather was typical for winter.
“An active front will be proceeded by strong northwesterly winds [on Tuesday],” he said.
“This wil lead to heavy rain for about 24 hours.”
He said more rain could be expected this weekend across parts of the South Island.
ALDEN WILLIAMS/Stuff
Christchurch’s Heathcote River in St Martins flooded in July after heavy rain.
“A front will move up the country. Otago and Canterbury will be wet on Friday and Saturday. There will be strong winds and heavy rain.”
Last month saw the wettest July in 30 years for New Zealand’s six main centres combined, with 1316mm of rainfall.
MetService data revealed both Christchurch (267.8mm of rain) and Dunedin (140.2mm) recorded their wettest months on record – surpassing volumes recorded in 1943 and 1962 respectively.
Auckland Airport recorded its second-wettest July since 1962 with 250.6mm, while Hamilton Airport (211mm) and Tauranga Airport (266.1mm) both had their fifth-wettest July.
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