Subj : West Coast prepares for 'days of heavy rain, strong winds'
To   : All
From : News Person
Date : Tue Apr 09 2024 10:06 am

Emergency management officials are meeting this morning as a major weather
system is set to bring days of heavy rain and strong winds to the West Coast.


An orange heavy rain warning has been issued for the Westland District south
of Hokitika from 9am today until midnight on Friday, and MetService said it
has the potential to be upgraded to red in coming days.


MetService meteorologist John Law said the heaviest rainfall is expected in
the Western District, particularly south of Hokitika.

He said it's not unusual for the West Coast to see a fair amount of rainfall
- but this is a "significant weather event".


"It is a prolonged activity as well, right the way through the rest of today
and for the next couple of days."


An atmospheric river (AR) is headed for NZ this week, but how strong will it
be?

ARs can be ranked using precipitable water, or total atmospheric moisture.

This week's AR is ò90th percentile (??) for April & ò99th percentile (??
contour) in some places <=> lots of moisture! pic.twitter.com/5J5RVRpe7e

- NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) April 8, 2024
Rainfall totals could get up to 600-800mm in the ranges and Law said all that
rain has to go somewhere.


"Feeding down in towards the lakes and roads, so we will find those streams
and rivers rising pretty rapidly for the next few days."


Orange heavy rain warnings have also been issued for the headwaters of
Canterbury Lakes and Rivers south of Arthurs Pass from 3pm today to 5pm
Thursday, the headwaters of the Otago Lakes and Rivers from 9am today to 8am
tomorrow and Fiordland about and north of George Sound from 4am today to 3am
tomorrow.


Heavy rain watches have been put in place for the Grey District and Westland
north of Hokitika from 6pm tonight to 6pm Thursday, and for Fiordland south
of George Sound from 4am to 9pm today.

"While it starts off on the West Coast, keep an eye on the forecast wherever
you are across New Zealand."


Wet weather and strong winds will move across the North Island on Thursday,
Law said.


"As this band of wet weather moves across the country from west to east,
there will be some pretty intense bursts of rain from that back edge, perhaps
some thunderstorms on Thursday afternoon into Friday."


He said it would be a "pretty warm week" with minimum temperatures of 17 and
18C.


"At least there's something there," he said.

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