NZ Historic Weather Events Catalogue
December 2019 New Zealand Storm ( 2019-12-02 )
A prolonged period of unstable northwesterly flow affected much of New Zealand over this period. There was particularly heavy rain about and west of the Southern Alps, which caused severe disruption and damage to the South Island’s West Coast.
New Zealand
Multi Hazard
at
New Zealand
Duration: 8 days - From the 2nd to 9th of December.
Insurance claims totalled $15.29 million.
MetService SEVERE WEATHER WARNING 10:02 am Monday 02-Dec-2019. Prolonged heavy rain for western parts of the South Island, and gales for parts of central New Zealand. A strong and moist northwesterly flow covers the country this week, with a number of embedded fronts bringing periods of heavy rain and north to northwest gales to central New Zealand. Significant heavy rain is forecast for northern parts of Fiordland, the ranges of Westland and the Southern Alps, where over 500mm of rain is likely to accumulate this week. Flooding and disruption to transport is likely, as well as hazardous conditions for tramping.
MetService SEVERE WEATHER WARNING 10:33 am Tuesday 03-Dec-2019. Prolonged heavy rain for western parts of the South Island, and gales for parts of central and southern New Zealand.
MetService SEVERE WEATHER WARNING 9:58 am Wednesday 04-Dec-2019. Prolonged heavy rain for western parts of the South Island, and gales for parts of central and southern New Zealand.
MetService SEVERE WEATHER WARNING 9:39 am Thursday 05-Dec-2019. Prolonged heavy rain for western parts of the South Island, and northwest gales for parts of central New Zealand.
MetService SEVERE WEATHER WARNING 9:05 pm Friday 06-Dec-2019. Heavy rain for western parts of the South Island and parts of the North Island..
MetService SEVERE WEATHER WARNING 8:19 am Saturday 07-Dec-2019. Heavy rain for western parts of the South Island and parts of the North Island.
MetService SEVERE WEATHER WARNING 8:28 pm Sunday 08-Dec-2019. Heavy rain for parts of the North Island.
West Coast
Landslide
at
West Coast
Numerous slips forced the closure of a 350 km stretch of SH6 between Haast and Hokitika.
Landslide
at
Franz Josef
1000 tourists were trapped in Franz Josef by the landslides.
Landslide
at
Mt Hercules
A massive slip at Mt Hercules closed State Highway 6 between Hari Hari and Franz Josef. The road remained closed for two weeks.
Canterbury
Flooding
at
Rangitata River
A State of Emergency was declared for the Timaru District on 7 December after both SH1 and the inland route SH72 at Arundel in South Canterbury were closed by major flooding of the Rangitata River. Both roads together often carry more than 12,000 vehicles a day, with more than 1200 of them being heavy goods vehicles.
Hundreds of people were stranded on either side of the Rangitata River. The Upper Rangitata Bridge at Arundel re-opened on 9 December, and SH1 across the Rangitata River re-opened on 11 December.
The peak flow of the Rangitata River on 7 December was 2200 cumecs, more than 30 times its average flow.
Flooding
at
Timaru
The Timaru Civil Defence group used the Southern Trust Event Centre as a base to help at least 80 people stranded by the flooding.
Wellington
High Wind / Gust
at
Wellington City
On 7 December two people, who had been at a secondary school athletics event at Newtown Park, were taken to Wellington Hospital with serious injuries after they were hit by a two-tonne metal structure that had been blown around by a wind gust.
The strongest wind gusts on 7 December in Wellington were 100 km/h in Kelburn and 96 km/h at Wellington Airport.
Flooding
at
Wellington City
Very heavy rain fell overnight between 7 and 8 December. Lower Hutt and Porirua were the hardest hit. There was significant flooding in Stokes Valley, Haywards Hill, Pauatahanui and Porirua. SH58 between Porirua and Manor Park was closed due to flooding and slips.
References
- Meteorological Society of New Zealand (Inc.), Newsletter 160, Autumn 2020
- Meteorological Society of New Zealand (Inc.)
- Insurance Council of New Zealand (https://www.icnz.org.nz/natural-disasters/cost-of-natural-disasters/)
- Headline: Two-tonne metal structure flies over fence and lands on athletics spectators.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 8 December 2019.
- Headline: Heavy rain, slips and floodwaters close key roads and cut South Island in half.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 8 December 2019.
- Headline: Tourism hotspots ‘face devastation’ after weekend of storms, floods and slips.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 9 December 2019.
- Headline: Live: Weather mayhem leaves tourists stranded, major roads closed.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 9 December 2019.
- Headline: Wellington highway warnings lifted after weekend of wild weather.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 9 December 2019.
- Headline: A wet and wild jolt to summer weather.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 9 December 2019.
- Headline: Rangitata flooding: SH1 reopens after flooding.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 11 December 2019.
- Headline: West Coast highway reopens weeks earlier than expected.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 20 December 2019.
December 2019 New Zealand Storm ( 2019-12-02 )
A prolonged period of unstable northwesterly flow affected much of New Zealand over this period. There was particularly heavy rain about and west of the Southern Alps, which caused severe disruption and damage to the South Island’s West Coast.
New Zealand
Multi Hazard
at
New Zealand
Duration: 8 days - From the 2nd to 9th of December.
Insurance claims totalled $15.29 million.
MetService SEVERE WEATHER WARNING 10:02 am Monday 02-Dec-2019. Prolonged heavy rain for western parts of the South Island, and gales for parts of central New Zealand. A strong and moist northwesterly flow covers the country this week, with a number of embedded fronts bringing periods of heavy rain and north to northwest gales to central New Zealand. Significant heavy rain is forecast for northern parts of Fiordland, the ranges of Westland and the Southern Alps, where over 500mm of rain is likely to accumulate this week. Flooding and disruption to transport is likely, as well as hazardous conditions for tramping.
MetService SEVERE WEATHER WARNING 10:33 am Tuesday 03-Dec-2019. Prolonged heavy rain for western parts of the South Island, and gales for parts of central and southern New Zealand.
MetService SEVERE WEATHER WARNING 9:58 am Wednesday 04-Dec-2019. Prolonged heavy rain for western parts of the South Island, and gales for parts of central and southern New Zealand.
MetService SEVERE WEATHER WARNING 9:39 am Thursday 05-Dec-2019. Prolonged heavy rain for western parts of the South Island, and northwest gales for parts of central New Zealand.
MetService SEVERE WEATHER WARNING 9:05 pm Friday 06-Dec-2019. Heavy rain for western parts of the South Island and parts of the North Island..
MetService SEVERE WEATHER WARNING 8:19 am Saturday 07-Dec-2019. Heavy rain for western parts of the South Island and parts of the North Island.
MetService SEVERE WEATHER WARNING 8:28 pm Sunday 08-Dec-2019. Heavy rain for parts of the North Island.
West Coast
Landslide
at
West Coast
Numerous slips forced the closure of a 350 km stretch of SH6 between Haast and Hokitika.
Landslide
at
Franz Josef
1000 tourists were trapped in Franz Josef by the landslides.
Landslide
at
Mt Hercules
A massive slip at Mt Hercules closed State Highway 6 between Hari Hari and Franz Josef. The road remained closed for two weeks.
Canterbury
Flooding
at
Rangitata River
A State of Emergency was declared for the Timaru District on 7 December after both SH1 and the inland route SH72 at Arundel in South Canterbury were closed by major flooding of the Rangitata River. Both roads together often carry more than 12,000 vehicles a day, with more than 1200 of them being heavy goods vehicles.
Hundreds of people were stranded on either side of the Rangitata River. The Upper Rangitata Bridge at Arundel re-opened on 9 December, and SH1 across the Rangitata River re-opened on 11 December.
The peak flow of the Rangitata River on 7 December was 2200 cumecs, more than 30 times its average flow.
Flooding
at
Timaru
The Timaru Civil Defence group used the Southern Trust Event Centre as a base to help at least 80 people stranded by the flooding.
Wellington
High Wind / Gust
at
Wellington City
On 7 December two people, who had been at a secondary school athletics event at Newtown Park, were taken to Wellington Hospital with serious injuries after they were hit by a two-tonne metal structure that had been blown around by a wind gust.
The strongest wind gusts on 7 December in Wellington were 100 km/h in Kelburn and 96 km/h at Wellington Airport.
Flooding
at
Wellington City
Very heavy rain fell overnight between 7 and 8 December. Lower Hutt and Porirua were the hardest hit. There was significant flooding in Stokes Valley, Haywards Hill, Pauatahanui and Porirua. SH58 between Porirua and Manor Park was closed due to flooding and slips.
References
- Meteorological Society of New Zealand (Inc.), Newsletter 160, Autumn 2020
- Meteorological Society of New Zealand (Inc.)
- Insurance Council of New Zealand (https://www.icnz.org.nz/natural-disasters/cost-of-natural-disasters/)
- Headline: Two-tonne metal structure flies over fence and lands on athletics spectators.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 8 December 2019.
- Headline: Heavy rain, slips and floodwaters close key roads and cut South Island in half.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 8 December 2019.
- Headline: Tourism hotspots ‘face devastation’ after weekend of storms, floods and slips.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 9 December 2019.
- Headline: Live: Weather mayhem leaves tourists stranded, major roads closed.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 9 December 2019.
- Headline: Wellington highway warnings lifted after weekend of wild weather.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 9 December 2019.
- Headline: A wet and wild jolt to summer weather.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 9 December 2019.
- Headline: Rangitata flooding: SH1 reopens after flooding.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 11 December 2019.
- Headline: West Coast highway reopens weeks earlier than expected.
- www.stuff.co.nz, 20 December 2019.