Northland braces for wind gusts, heavy rain for next two days

Source: Radio New Zealand

Business owners around Northland’s east coast are hunkering down for what promises to be a wet and wild few days.

Anthony “Vinnie” Pivac, the owner of Zane Grey’s Restaurant on the Paihia waterfront, said the predicted 50 knot easterly gusts could be damaging – but it was the sea he was keeping a close eye on.

When Cyclone Gabrielle caused $100,000 worth of damage and lost contracts in 2023, that came down to a combination of strong winds and a 7-metre swell.

So far the swell was forecast to reach just 2.5m, he said.

“If it had swell behind this easterly then I would be panicking, but it’s not going to be too bad. On the flip side of things, we’re just going to have today and tomorrow of horrendous rain and no customers,” he said.

“But for now we’re sitting cosy. I’m going to sit here, have a few beers and see what happens on either side of the tide.”

However, Pivac said he would keep monitoring the forecast and was not taking anything for granted.

“Mate, we’re in New Zealand, so the weather changes every five minutes.”

MetService has issued a red rain warning for Northland east of Kaikohe from Doubtless Bay to Whangārei on Wednesday morning with up to 320mm of rain now expected by Friday morning.

Any time the swell reached 4m he removed parts of the decking around the restaurant to reduce the impact of the waves, but that was not necessary at this point.

Pivac said the most damaging winds for Paihia were northeasterlies. Easterly winds were bad if they coincided with big swells.

“Anything from the north, it’s hold onto your britches,” he said.

The next high tides were due in the Bay of Islands around 1.20pm on Wednesday and 2am and 2.20pm on Thursday.

Power cuts a concern

Meanwhile, Richard Holt, the owner of Cellini’s Ice Cream and Espresso Bar on nearby Williams Road, said power cuts caused by wild weather were the biggest threat to his business.

He had invested in a bunker freezer to keep ice cream cold in the event of a serious power outage – but if it lasted more than eight or nine hours, he would still lose his stock.

Holt said he did not expect to sell many ice creams in Paihia today but there had been plenty of demand for coffee this morning.

Further down the east coast in Ōakura, in the Whangārei District, residents still recovering from the devastating January storm are preparing for more rain.

That deluge swept through multiple homes and baches, triggered landslides, and severely damaged the newly renovated Ōakura Community Hall.

The Whangārei District Council had planned to hold a public meeting on Thursday afternoon to update locals on storm recovery efforts.

That meeting had now been postponed until 6pm on Tuesday at the Ōakura Sports Complex.

The main road from Ōakura south to Whangārei remained closed due to a massive slip at Helena Bay Hill, and eight homes and buildings were still red-stickered, meaning they were too dangerous to enter.

Warning lifted to red

MetService has raised its orange warning to the highest level of red on Wednesday morning.

Up to 320mm of rain could fall in Northland east of Kaikohe from Doubtless Bay to Whangārei from 3pm on Wednesday to 4am on Friday, MetService is warning.

The remainder of Northland is under an orange level rain warning with 150mm to 250mm of rain forecast over the same period.

Red Rain Warning issued for Northland

Significant rainfall is expected for Northland over the next two days with 270-320 mm of rain expected for eastern areas. There is the potential for downpours from training bands of very heavy rain from Thursday afternoon. pic.twitter.com/9VRVMQNN1K

— MetService NZ (@MetService) March 24, 2026

The agency warned Northlanders to expect 270mm to 320mm of rain over the next two days.

The rain was likely to cause dangerous river conditions, flooding and slips. Driving conditions would be dangerous and road closures were expected.

Northland was also subject to a strong wind watch for 33 hours from ppm on Wednesday to 11pm on Thursday.

Severe east to northeast gales were possible in exposed places.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand