Heavy downpours in the lower North Island have closed roads and caused surface flooding in the Wellington region.
Heavy rain and an early morning crash on SH1 caused delays for commuters into Wellington on Monday morning. Photo: Waka Kotahi Wellington
By midday more than 80mm of rain had fallen in Wellington city and the orange heavy rain warning has been extended to 9pm.
High tide in parts of the city had added to the flooding, forcing the closure of and Mantell and Burnham streets in the suburb of Seatoun, Wellington City Council said. Roads in Tawa, Khandallah, Karori, Newtown, Ngaio, and Kaiwharawhara were affected by surface flooding.
The river in Takarau Gorge in northern Wellington was rising rapidly, with flooding in the gorge section, and motorists were advised to avoid the area, the city council said.
Paremata School in Porirua was closed due to floodwaters in the school grounds. Gray's Road in Porirua was closed between Pope Street and Pāuatahanui.
In Kāpiti, Maungakotukutuku Rd was closed because of a slip, and a diversion was in place around flooding at Rimu Road. Earlier today Waka Kotahi warned of half-hour delays getting from Kāpiti Coast to Wellington Airport.
Lower Hutt City Council has closed its Riverbank Carpark due to rising water levels. Flooding closed Block Road, creating delays around the SH 2 Melling interchange.
By 8am more than 60mm of rain had been recorded in Wainuiomata, Lower Hutt.
The early morning rain caused flooding on the Johnsonville-Porirua Motorway and on Mungavin Avenue in Porirua, police said
In Petone, surface flooding blocked one northbound lane on SH2 near the Dowse Drive off-ramp.
More rain due in Wellington region
More than 25mm of rain fell in parts of Wellington in one hour up to 6am, MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said.
Heavy rain warnings remain in force for the Tararua Range, Kāpiti and Horowhenua and Wellington. Another 40mm-70mm was expected to fall in Wellington, Kāpiti and Horowhenua between 9am and 9pm.
Ferris told Morning Report parts of Wellington could be affected by slips. "It's very likely that there would be some little slips around some of the hill suburbs," he said.
The downpours were the result of warm, humid air from the north Tasman.
"It was a constant feed of very warm air, and that holds a lot of moisture with it.
The same weather pattern had dumped rain on the West Coast, with parts of the region getting 400mm to 600mm of rainfall from Friday to Sunday.
"The West Coast is a classic rain trap, onshore winds just feed a lot of rain ... and then we had a cold front push through the western region yesterday which gave that extra fuel for that heavy rain to fall.