Weather back to normal?
MetService meteorologist James Millward says the country’s weather patterns are now on a much more even footing.
The MetService is forecasting more heavy rain for an already sodden Nelson/Tasman region from late Friday.
It has been just under two weeks since the region was hit with flooding, which forced some farmers to dump milk. The New Zealand Transport Agency has only managed to open the area of State Highway 6 between Rai Valley and Blenheim this morning, with other sections of the highway set to open tomorrow morning, weather permitting.
MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey says Westland could see over 300mm of rain and 50 to 70mm could hit the ranges near Nelson and northern Marlborough.
“This amount of rain wouldn’t normally cause too many problems in Nelson and Marlborough but because they have already had extreme amounts of rain recently it could lead to more slips,” Glassey says.
Nelson and Blenheim have already beaten their wettest winters on record by considerable margins, receiving close to three times their averages for winter.
Nelson Airport has recorded over 700mm rain since the beginning of June, beating their previous record of 570mm in 1970. Meanwhile, Woodbourne Airport in Blenheim has had approximately 560mm this winter, beating their previous record of 377mm in 2010.
Orange Heavy Rain Warnings and Watches are likely to be issued for the West Coast, Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough regions in the coming days.
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.