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ALDEN WILLIAMS/Stuff
Christchurchs New Brighton Pier got bashed by waves on Wednesday as the weather packed in.
A heavy rain watch has been issued for parts of Canterbury after five weeks without proper rain in the region’s main city.
MetService says periods of heavy rain may approach warning criteria, especially about the foothills and Banks Peninsula, from mid-afternoon Wednesday until about 5am on Thursday.
Christchurch received 19mm of rain between midnight Wednesday and 4.30pm. The last time the city had a decent rainfall was January 7, when it received 13.4mm in 24 hours.
A MetService spokesperson said Wednesday was the wettest day Christchurch had experienced so far in 2023.
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ALDEN WILLIAMS/Stuff
nThe Sumner Lifeboat out thrashing through waves at Scarborough Beach on Wednesday.
Banks Peninsula had been “in the firing line, sheltering the city”, with 70mm of rain between 12am and 4.30pm, including peaks of up to 10mm an hour in the afternoon.
The rain brought many people inside after a heatwave at the beginning of February, but keen surfers were making the most of Cyclone Gabrielle’s effects.
Surfers were enjoying the swells in Sumner, but Coastguard Sumner president Blair Quane said only experienced surfers should be out on Wednesday.
“A few surfers are going out in the storm swell and getting into strife.
ALDEN WILLIAMS/Stuff
Surfer Josh Newsome-White’s board snapped in half from the large surf at Christchurch’s Taylors Mistake Beach on Wednesday morning.
“If you’re experienced, and you know the Sumner conditions, it’s not too bad. Anyone not a strong surfer shouldn’t be going in the water.”
The few surfers who had got into trouble on Wednesday were safe, but Coastguard staff stayed on for the afternoon to ensure a fast response if anyone else needed help.
A police spokesperson said they were alerted to a surfer who was in distress in 3m three metre swells at New Brighton beach about 3.30pm on Wednesday.
The surfer made it to shore and police provided assistance, they said.
The big waves at Taylors Mistake Beach snapped Josh Newsome-White’s board in half on Wednesday morning.
ALDEN WILLIAMS/Stuff
The Sumner Lifeboat patrols Scarborough Beach on Wednesday as surfers are “getting into strife”.
The 33-year-old has been surfing for 20 years and said Wednesday’s waves were “pretty special” but if you weren’t an experienced surfer the ocean “would be a terrifying place right now”.
“I haven’t seen waves like this in a couple of years … there is a lot of energy out there at the moment.”
MetService also issued a heavy rain warning for the Kaikōura coast and a heavy rain watch for northern parts of Canterbury as far south as Banks Peninsula down to Rakaia.
MetService
Rain has eased for some of the hardest hit areas, but it can take a while for flood water and raging rivers to recede, meaning caution is still required.
The heavy rain was expected to last until midnight on Wednesday.
MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said Cyclone Gabrielle had generated large waves along the coastline, and those were expected to continue for the next couple of days.
Meanwhile, on the West Coast, Westport reached its third-warmest February temperature on Tuesday with a peak of 27C.
Makgabutlane said the West Coast and Fiordland would not get to enjoy the sun for long though, as wet weather was expected to arrive with an unusual cold front moving in from the west on Sunday.
“We haven’t heard of this in a while because it usually comes in from the northeast.”
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