New Zealand has been lashed by a powerful ‘weather bomb’ that has resulted in cutting off the country from the rural towns also swamping majority of roads. This has moreover led to dumping off of snow to the unadorned ski fields.
As per the weatherman, the reason for the flooding rains, snowy Alps and gale force winds in the middle of southern summer is the severe low.
The significant low over the South Island also caused landslides and snow on late Thursday afternoon before lashing the country throughout the weekend.
Major power outages were observed at North Auckland in North Island. Also, the water level in the rivers on the west coast of the South Island also rose rapidly. This river water also carried with it large debris including washed out trees from the Southern Alps.
The central and southern parts of South Island have experienced road closures. Moreover, the town of Waikaia was cut off due to which, farm infrastructure and farmers were urged to evacuate livestock to higher grounds. The famous Sylvia Flats hot pools were suppressed under landslip. Greymouth observed hefty showers making very wet conditions for the residents.
As per the Meteorological Department, due to its close proximity to Antarctica and its thin, mountainous setting, New Zealand is much more prone to suffer from the changing weather patterns. Hence, weather bombs have become pretty common in this region.
Moreover, New Zealand is well known for experiencing rapid temperature variations due to its close proximity to Antarctica. While the South Island was witnessing snow, some regions of the North Island were witnessing highs in the 20’s.
In fact, these weather bombs are a result of the hot wind traveling from Australia, forming a low while moving into the Tasman Sea. Moreover, these winds are thereafter pick up moisture and increasing intensity thus bringing in hefty rains and gale-force winds.
Image Credit: NIWA
