Bay dries out but showers likely
The storm that lashed the Western Bay of Plenty yesterday might have cleared this morning but don't hang out your washing just yet, the MetService warns.
In Tauranga, 20.8mm of rain fell between 6am and 4pm yesterday, with wind gusts reaching 65km/h.
"We had all that heavy persistent rain come through the area, that was on the main front that has moved through so now the winds are turning more west, southwesterly across the Bay of Plenty," forecaster Dan Corbett said.
The wind blew down large tree branches across McLaren Falls Rd just after 1pm yesterday, blocking the south-bound lane.
A fallen tree was cleared from Crawford Rd yesterday, near Te Puna, and the road was reopened.
Mr Corbett said the winds would ease today.
"It's going to be quite breezy but really just showery through Tuesday and Wednesday with maybe heavier showers."
The showers would be "more hit and miss", with things drying up in the Western Bay of Plenty by about Thursday, Mr Corbett said.
In Tauranga city, a strong gust of wind blew the head off a Queen Palm tree at the top of Grey St.
The entire crown blew off and the tree is now a tall stump, which will require removal.
City Arborist Richard Conning said it was an extremely unusual occurrence.
Fortunately no one was hurt.
NIWA released it's climate summary of August yesterday, saying the month was unusually mild throughout the country.
August was dominated by more northeast winds than normal over New Zealand, squeezed between higher than normal pressures southeast of the country, and lower pressures than usual over the mid Tasman Sea, it said.
