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5 Sep 2017

Soggy year sends weather records tumbling

1:24 pm on 5 September 2017

Auckland is heading for its second wettest year on record, and more storms and rain are on the way for most of the country.

Flooding in Clevedon, south Auckland, in March. Auckland is heading for its second wettest year on record, while Tauranga and Christchurch have already recorded their usual annual rainfall. Photo: RNZ / Brad White

Auckland, Tauranga and Christchurch have already recorded their usual annual rainfall with just under four months of the year still to go.

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) forecaster Ben Noll said Christchurch had had almost four times the rain this winter than last, while Auckland was tracking for the highest rainfall since its wettest year on record in 1979.

Flooding in Christchurch in July Photo: RNZ / Sebastian Beyrer

This year's sodden weather has been partly due to warmer than average sea surface temperatures around and to the north of New Zealand, increasing the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere.

"It can influence storms, as they track over these warm waters and then often can dump rain on New Zealand.

"So patterns in the ocean and atmosphere are working together to create what has been a very wet start to the year so far.

Heather and Daryl Whistons' property on Kaik Rd near Oamaru has been deluged by the floodwaters.

Properties near Oamaru were deluged by floodwaters in July. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

New Zealand was in a "La Niña-like" pattern tending to produce more wind from the north, which also brought more moisture in the air.

Mr Noll told Morning Report storms would continue to track in from the north over the next three months.

But New Zealand's rainfall, though flooding houses and farms and closing roads, was much less than the "mind boggling" deluge in Houston, Texas.

Mr Noll said Tropical Storm Harvey dropped 1270mm of rain around Houston in five days; that was more than two years' rainfall for Christchurch, and more than a year's worth of rain in Auckland.

"It puts our wetness in perspective a bit."

NIWA is forecasting rainfall totals are likely to be either normal or above normal for the North Island and the north of the South Island over the next three months, and near normal for the rest of the country. Temperatures are likely to be above normal.

Widespread flooding of Taieri Plain - the second worst on record. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

This is what the Taieri River at Outram Bridge looked like earlier this morning, as Otago Regional Council staff began their aerial reconnaissance. Photo: Otago Regional Council

Otago Regional Council staff sandbag the most vulnerable area around the Mill Creek pump station as police evacuate the remaining residents from Mill Creek subdivision. Photo: Otago Civil Defence and Emergency Management

Flooding at Dunedin airport. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

Riverlaw Terrace and Eastern Terrace by Palatine Terrace have become submerged. Photo: RNZ / Rachel Graham

Joanne Bos' home on the corner of Hume Street and Eastern Tce is now surrounded by water. Photo: RNZ / Rachel Graham

A large slip threatens houses in Timaru. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

A retaining wall has collapsed due to rainfall on Douglas St in Highfield, Timaru. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

Heathcote River burst its banks and is flooding some properties bordering Eastern Terrace, Christchurch. Photo: Sean Scanlon

Flooding in Canterbury. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

Kowai river mouth, Canterbury. Photo: RNZ / Logan Church

Ashburton River. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

On the road from Ashburton to Rakaia. Photo: Shelley Burke

Rakaia Gorge. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

Flooded garlic field at Rakaia. "We should have planted rice, not garlic." Photo: Wendy Atkinson

Oamuru's Centennial Park underwater. Photo: Altitude Surveying

Flooding in Oamuru. Photo: Altitude Surveying

Flooding near the Resource Recovery park. Photo: Altitude Surveying

Photo: Altitude Surveying

Otago Harbour. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

Portobello Road. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

A digger clears one of the slips on Portobello Road. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

Portobello Road. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

Otago Peninsula man Greg Ryder is digging gravel out of a small lake, trying clear the drain which is flooding the road. He says he should be able to find it after living here for 25 years but there is just so much water and gravel, he can't locate it. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

This driveway off Portobello Road has become a stream. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

The Dunedin Civil Defence emergency operations centre. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

Looking over Opoho Hill, Dunedin. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

A torrent of mud is coming from a driveway on corner of Ravenswood Road and Cliffs Road, St Clair. Police have evacuated a number of houses around a bank that is at risk of collapse. Photo: Ian Telfer

Heavy rain has caused a slip across the railway line at Hampden. Photo: NZ Police

The rain has eased, allowing a clearer view of widespread flooding of the Taieri Plain. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

The Taieri Plain. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

A worried Christine Bridgman returns after a night a way to check on her Riverlaw terrace home in Christchurch, but the street outside her house is fully flooded. Photo / Rachel Graham

Seven Mile Road near Oamaru has had some significant patches of flooding. Photo / Rebekah Parsons-King

Flooding at Dunedin Airport. Photo / Ian Telfer

A car is submerged on Allanton Road, Outram after the driver was a bit overconfident. Photo / Ian Telfer

Flooding at Dunedin Airport. Photo / Ian Telfer

A car is submerged on Allanton Road, Outram after the driver was a bit overconfident. Photo / Ian Telfer

Flooding at Dunedin Airport. Photo / Ian Telfer

Heather and Daryl Whistons' property on Kaik Rd near Oamaru has been deluged by the floodwaters. Photo / Rebekah Parsons-King

Duane Burgess heads back into the floodwaters to deliver some medication to a friend, whose house on Riverlaw Terrace is now surrounded with water. Photo / Rachel Graham