A sudden cloudburst on Monday afternoon, May 29, 2023, led to flash flooding at Waihi Beach in the western Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, resulting in evacuations and significant damage. Approximately 60 mm (2.3 inches) of rain fell during the burst, causing floodwaters to reach waist height at their peak.
A state of local emergency was declared by Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown on May 9, 2023, due to severe floods and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall. The MetService reported rain rates of 40 – 50 mm (1.6 – 1.9 inches) per hour in certain areas of Auckland, leading to significant disruption and causing over 200 weather-related emergency calls.
New Zealand’s North Island has been severely impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle over the past couple of days, with floods, landslides, and ocean swells leaving many people stranded on rooftops. The storm, which caused extensive damage to homes and infrastructure, also closed numerous roads, canceled hundreds of flights, and left about 225 000 people without power. At least 4 people have been killed.
Flood flows on the Buller River in July 2021 were the largest of any river in New Zealand in almost 100 years, NIWA measurements show. Mike O'Driscoll, NIWA Environmental Monitoring Technician, used radar to measure the speed at the surface of Buller River from…
Preliminary analysis by NIWA scientists has shown that the severe weather event in Canterbury, New Zealand, from May 29 to 31, 2021 was so extreme in some inland areas that it could be considered a "one-in-200-year" event. On May 29, extremely heavy…
Hundreds of residents in north Canterbury in New Zealand have been evacuated amid severe flooding fuelled by a one-in-100-year heavy rain over the weekend. According to NIWA, the rainfall was 200 to 400 percent of normal for the month of May, causing rivers to rise…
A state of emergency was declared in Napier, New Zealand, after up to 242.4 mm (9.5 inches) of rain triggered damaging floods, landslides, and power outages that affected more than 3 300 homes on Monday, November 9, 2020. The amount of rain that fell in a 12-hour…
Thousands of residents in South Island, New Zealand, were forced to evacuate their homes on Wednesday morning, February 5, 2020, after severe flooding hit the region, prompting officials to declare a state of emergency. The severe weather also left hundreds of…
The atmospheric river event affecting New Zealand over the past 3 days has set the country's new 48-hour rainfall record. The storm caused major infrastructural damage, including destroyed Waiho Bridge in South Island's Westland District. At least one person…
Heavy rain over the past 2 days caused near-record river levels across the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. In less than 48 hours, parts of the region recorded 548 mm (21.6 inches) of rain, nearly 10% of its yearly average. More than 300 mm (11.8…
