Major slip during storm in Northland, possible delays on Auckland Harbor Bridge

• Fourteen-hour heavy rain guards have been issued for Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay, north of Mohaka.
• A Northland Road has been closed to all traffic after a major slip and is unlikely to fully reopen until early August.
• Strong winds can cause delays on Auckland’s Harbor Bridge from 8pm Thursday to 9am Friday.
• The storm should abate by early Friday morning, with the last rain dissipating from Gisborne around 9am, MetService says.

Heavy rain and storms have soaked most of Northland causing major road slip.

Waiotemarama Gorge Road in South Hokianga has been closed to all traffic and is unlikely to fully reopen until early August.

Motorists can take diversions along Rijksweg 12 into account.

The slip that started during Tuesday’s stormhas now occupied a significant portion of the road between Kelly Road near Pakanae and Smoothy Road, a Far North District Council spokesman said.

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Meanwhile, motorists in Auckland should be prepared for potential delays over the Harbor Bridge after MetService issued a strong wind warning for the area from 8pm Thursday to 9am Friday.

“High-sided vehicles and motorcyclists are advised to use SH16 and SH18 as an alternative route,” Waka Kotahi told NZTA.

Earlier this week, Northland was hit hard when the land was ravaged by a storm who closed highways, flooded paddocks and brought snow to some parts of the South Island.

MetService has issued a heavy rain warning for Northland, warning residents of between 50mm and 70mm between noon on Thursday and 3am on Friday.

A seven-hour wind watch has also been issued for the region, between 11pm Thursday and 6am Friday, with southwestern winds approaching severe storms in exposed areas.

MetService meteorologist John Law said Northland would bear the brunt of the system — with areas already flooded likely to get worse.

Slipping is also a risk on the soggy land.

Kerikeri has already had 236mm of rain in July, well above the average of 188mm for the month, Law said Thursday morning.

“It rains a lot and the ground is saturated. It is this succession of low pressures that caused the downpours – you have to look not just at an individual event, but also at what has happened in the past few days.”

Northland isn’t the only area expected to receive heavy rainfall and strong southwesterly winds, with the northeast of the North Island doused as the system moves across the country.

Fourteen-hour heavy rain guards have been issued for Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay, north of Mohaka.

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Rain will start on Thursday from Auckland and Coromandel from 2pm, Bay of Plenty from 6pm, Gisborne from 7pm and Hawke’s Bay from 9pm.

There is also a strong wind watch for Auckland, including Great Barrier Island and Coromandel Peninsula for the nine hours from midnight Thursday.

Law said the good news about the system is that it should slide pretty quickly and most areas in New Zealand are expected to have a relatively good weekend.

The only exception is the west coast of the South Island, where rain is forecast for Saturday.