Tropical Cyclone Ruby makes landfall in New Caledonia, brings heavy rain to New Zealand
Tropical Cyclone Ruby has made landfall in New Caledonia - bringing heavy rain and destructive storm force winds that are also affecting New Zealand.
The latest tracking information this afternoon shows the storm is just over the northern tip of the French territory and is bringing gales between 110km/h to 155km/h over the main island.
Fiji Meteorological Service says the storm will continue to move south-east across New Caledonia to the far south of Fiji and north of New Zealand.
At this stage, it is not expected to make a direct hit on Fiji or New Zealand.
However, heavy rain already seen here will continue over the next day or two, due to the remnants of TC Ruby.
WeatherWatch head analyst Philip Duncan says a series of lows in the Tasman Sea and New Zealand are linked to the tropical cyclone.
#CycloneRuby is directly over the top of #NouvelleCaledonie - the worst position it could be, and it's tracking the length of the island (ie, not crossing over sideways). One positive, it's moving fast at 30km/h
— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) December 13, 2021
Winds (average): 110km/h
Gusts: To 140km/h
(Source: JTWC)#TCRuby pic.twitter.com/6fwf1v91bA
As a result, the next 36 hours could see some places receive up to 200mm of rainfall - particularly in the Bay of Plenty - and cause localised slips and flooding in both the North and South islands.
Those would be the highest rainfall amounts from this event anywhere in New Zealand, Duncan said.
"We are already being impacted by the rain - not directly from the storm, but connecting up to it."
The latest rainfall map showed the at least three separate low pressure zones connecting to the cyclone and which were taking away "energy" from it - in this case, heavy rain.
"That's why we're seeing this atmospheric river - all this rain coming out of the tropics. We saw flooding in Manawatū last night and we're going to be seeing more rain as that pushes down into the South Island," Duncan said.
A secondary low due tonight will bring a burst of more rain and strong winds into places like Northland and Auckland.
Rain Radar shows #CycloneRuby has well and truly made landfall in #NewCaledonia / #NouvelleCaledonie with sustained winds of 110km/h -- Category 2. (At 118km/h it becomes Category 3). Gusts over 140km/h poss.
— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) December 13, 2021
Radar: Météo France
Latest Tracking: Fiji Methttps://t.co/Pm2OWgtJRf pic.twitter.com/TQAh74WRWY
There is also the possibility of coastal gales.
Weather experts say the storm will eventually break apart while still near New Caledonia and Vanuatu.
Severe weather warnings and watches remain
A number of severe weather warnings remain in place in parts of the North Island and upper South Island; issued by the MetService.
Members of the public are advised to keep a close eye on local weather forecasts and updates in case of any changes made to the warnings.
An orange heavy rain warning is in place for Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne from Tokomaru Bay northwards, Tasman about and west of Motueka, the Tararua Range, Eastern Marlborough and the Canterbury Plains north of Ashburton - including the foothills and Christchurch.
There are also several heavy rain watches in place over Eastern Waikato and Taupō, Wellington, Kapiti and Horowhenua (not including the Tararua Range), the north and east of Northland and eastern Auckland - including Auckland City and Great Barrier Island.