Wild, windy weather on the way to Wellington and Wairarapa

After a short spell of settled summer weather, people in the Lower North Island are being warned to “hold on to their hats”.

Gusts of around 120-130kmh were expected in parts of Wellington and Wairarapa on Tuesday as winds generated by opposing systems were whipped up in the central part of the country.

Metservice meteorologist Peter Little said gales were going to peak between late Tuesday morning and early evening in Wellington.

“For Wairarapa those times are slightly later.”

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Little said it was an unstable north-westerly flow with embedded fronts coming through that was generating the air movement with the most active one coming through the middle of the country on Tuesday.

“It’s really the winds ahead of that active front that are going to be the strongest.”

He said people needed to be aware that this was not going to be a “standard northwest gale” for Wellington.

“It is going to be very strong so people need to be aware they’ve got trampolines secured, and any other outdoor furniture that they have outside that they may have been enjoying over the past sunny settled week,” Little said.

“For much of the capital, and also for Wairarapa, we’ve been treated last week with windless and hot days. It was unusually calm and warm, but unfortunately the nor-westerly has returned and it is going to be particularly blustery.”

There was a lower pressure system moving past the south of the country that was interacting with a high pressure system to the north, Little said.

“There are a lot of isobars in between and that gets squeezed across New Zealand in places where the wind can go through the gaps such as Cook Strait and also through the Manawatū Gorge, which will be very windy.”

From a practical point of view, people needed to avoid possible impacts of the windy weather.

High-sided vehicles, motorcycles and campervans travelling over the Remutaka Hill Road needed to be very careful during high winds, Little said.

“People driving anything that may be susceptible to catching wind gusts, they will have to be very cautious.”

Wellington and Wairarapa residents should maybe think twice about putting out recycling bins if there was a danger of material getting blown down the street, Little said.

Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office has issued a strong wind warning.