Cardrona ski field opened Saturday, with heavy snow settling across the Queenstown Lakes District overnight. Photo / George Heard
Severe weather warnings - with heavy rain, snow and strong winds - are in place for much of the country today and forecasters are warning people to "batten down the hatches".
MetService meteorologist Gerard Bellam said today would be "very stormy" as a deep low pressure crosses the country, bringing very windy and wet conditions, with snow.
"We've basically got a full menu of winter weather on offer in different parts of the country."
He said the weather would be a "ramp up" of what was seen on Saturday and there were several active weather warnings.
"For heavy rain, severe gales, we've also got warnings for snow and large swells. So it's sort of a day to think about putting off travel and battening down the hatches."
The MetService has issued storm warnings for 13 regions from 4am to 9pm on Sunday - Northland, Waikato, Waitomo, Taranaki, Kapiti-Horowhenua, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Buller, Westland, Canterbury High Country, Southern Lakes and Fiordland.
Heavy rain has also been hitting Auckland overnight.
"Frequent thunderstorms are expected about western and northern parts of New Zealand from the early hours of Sunday morning," MetService said.
"These thunderstorms are forecast to bring heavy rain, hail, strong squally wind gusts, and possibly some small tornadoes about coastal areas.
"Between 4am and 9pm Sunday, some thunderstorms may become severe in western areas of the South Island from Fiordland to Nelson and the Marlborough Sounds, including the Southern Alps; and in the North Island areas of Wellington, Horowhenua and Kapiti Coast, Taranaki, Waitomo, Waikato and Northland. These severe thunderstorms could bring large hail greater than 20 mm in diameter, damaging winds gusting greater than 110 km/h, and possibly one or two damaging tornadoes near the coast.
"If any tornadoes occur, they will only affect very localised areas."
Bellam told the Herald the whole country should keep up to date with forecasts, warnings and watches as the weather was affecting large parts of the country.
"Especially in the South Island, we have a lot of road snow warnings out across most of those higher road passes."
Snow blanketed parts of central Otago yesterday and wild weather again left a trail of destruction in the Horowhenua District.
The South Island will continue to bear the brunt of the extreme weather today, with 11 warnings or watches in place.
MetService have put strong wind warnings in place for Wellington, Wairarapa and south of Featherston, as well as the Marlborough Sounds and the Kaikoura Coast. These will continue until 11pm tonight.
Westland Buller and the Canterbury High Country also have a strong wind warning in place, which will last until Monday afternoon.
Further south, a heavy rain warning is in place in Westland south of Otira until Monday 9am and there is a road snowfall warning ending this morning for Arthurs Pass, and the Milford Road until 11pm.
The Horowhenua was hit particularly hard yesterday by heavy rain as well as reports of a tornado by one family.
Horowhenua Mayor Bernie Wanden told residents yesterday that while they had been able to manage most of the flooding in town, a few houses were damaged.
"And we're looking to find some accommodation for a few people overnight."
Wanden said the area's water treatment plant could not handle the volume of muddy water so it was unable to operate to its capacity.
He urged residents to conserve water and only use it for essential purposes for the next few days.
"Please if you can, just stop using water unless you absolutely need to and also if you don't need to go out please stay home."
Ōhau resident Kim Udy told the Herald they were in bed about 11.30pm Friday when a tornado hit their property.
"It lasted 30 seconds but that 30 seconds was absolutely terrifying to say the least."
Udy told the Herald they are in the process of building so are living in a caravan, and her husband had built what he thought was a solid shelter coming off the caravan.
However, the weather was too wild, and Udy said the structure, along with the trampoline they got for their daughter, had been destroyed.
"I'm pretty certain it moved our caravan, which is 26 foot."
The couple's chicken coop had been "absolutely" ruined, but the birds were fine.
"I'm currently staying at my sister's house in Levin with my daughter; I'm a bit too scared to go back home in fear that it will happen again."
It's not all bad weather news as Cardrona ski field opened early and other ski fields down south are set to follow suit in the coming days.
