Extreme weather in New Zealand

Temperatures are in the early 20's (early 70's F) - much higher than what is normal for this time of year.

NZ: Torrential rain hits regions

Parts of the country have weathered the first major storm of the year, but not without significant damage to property and businesses.

TV3,

22 April, 2013

But the bad weather isn't about to let up, with the MetService issuing heavy rain and thunderstorm warnings for Nelson, Marlborough, Taranaki and the Bay of Plenty.

The MetService says conditions eased overnight, but further bursts of heavy rain were likely through this afternoon.

"People in these areas should be aware of rising rivers and streams and the potential for surface or flash flooding, together with possible slips," a spokesperson says.

MetService forecaster John Law said was likely the rain will continue through the week, easing up by Anzac Day.

"We've had this area of low pressure out towards the west of us, and it's brought in this really moist, humid northerly flow, and that's been bringing the perfect ingredients for these heavy, thundery showers we saw over the likes of Tauranga and also across parts of Nelson last night," he said on Firstline this morning.

"By the time we get through towards Anzac Day… those showers will become very much more isolated and some fine spells will be developing."

Mr Law said the rain will be welcomed by farmers, but stopped short of calling it the end of the drought.

"I think we've seen plenty of useful rain, and it's going to really soak into the soils which have been desperately needing some rainfall," he said.

"I think it's going to help, but we're going to have to keep a close eye on it."

The downpour was so heavy in the Nelson-Tasman region that it recorded its second highest amount of rainfall ever recorded in one hour last night.

The deluge left the region flooded with 104mm of rain between 5pm and 6pm.

The Nelson Volunteer Fire Service said it attended more than 200 callouts in the region last night and the Civil Defence Emergency Operations Centre in Tasman will reopen this morning as the clean up job begins.

Rain triggered land slips and major flooding to at least 10 homes and businesses.

Nelson Civil Defence warned residents to stay indoors. In a statement, Civil Defence asked those driving to work or school this morning to "drive slowly through inundated areas so the bow waves from water do not rush into houses and businesses".

Nelson-Tasman emergency management controller Jim Frater described the effects of the rain on Firstline.

"The thunder was actually shaking our house and that was fairly intense. The stormwater systems couldn’t cope, the water was actually surging out of the stormwater grates over the road so the main streets of Richmond St and Queen St became a secondary flow path," said Mr Frater.

Mr Frater said rain in the region eased off last night allowing the fire service to catch up with the backlog of calls they had. Everyone was stood down at 11pm, but would return to work this morning.

Businesses in the commercial area of Richmond including the Richmond Mall would have water through them. He had no good information about how many people had self-evacuated.

Mr Frater appealed to residents who have self-evacuated to call the council to let them know if they have moved out of their houses and that they were safe.

Reports of suspected land movement in upper Richmond had affected two homes, which were also hit by the 2011 floods, Mr Frater said.

An emergency services spokesperson said seven people had been taken out of pensioner flats last night as a precaution because they would have been unable to get medical assistance if they needed it.

The damage was quite severe with cars floating on the road and full extent would not be known until the water subsided, he said.

Tasman District Council has set up an emergency operations centre and some families are now staying in temporary accommodation at the Richmond New Life Centre.

Mr Frater said the centre will be able to provide information and help with accommodation as well as financial help and insurance advice.

However, Nelson was not the only region hit with Hamilton and Raglan still recovering after a thunderstorm passed through the area about midday on Sunday.

Three or four houses were flooded in Hamilton, but there had been no significant flooding there, while in Raglan a small tornado damaged a few houses.

Hamilton City Council received "lots of calls" about flooding and sent a message urging residents to drive carefully and watch for manhole covers that may have moved in the downpour.

Tauranga, Mount Maunganui and Papamoa and Waihi Beach were also badly hit.

About 50 homes in the Tauranga suburbs of Otumoetai and Matua had been evacuated due to rising water levels.