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Otago Daily Times
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Matariki drone shows ‘all on'
Drones form the shape of a bird seemingly perched on University of Otago buildings during a rehearsal for Matariki displays at Logan Park, Dunedin. Two shows this evening are expected to be watched by thousands of people. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY The weather should be settled enough for Matariki drone shows in Dunedin to proceed successfully tonight and draw big crowds, an organiser says. "Wind's looking good. Rain's going away, so she's all on at this stage," Drone Sky Shows director Shane Wild said. The plan is for Dunedin's night sky to dazzle with drone lights, weaving local stories into the stars, from 6pm and 8.30pm at Logan Park. Last year's event attracted 15,000 people, prompting organisers to extend the event footprint across the park this year and have a large area for food trucks and dining. The MetService forecast scattered showers today would clear by noon. Tomorrow is set aside as a contingency night, just in case the conditions prove to be problematic. "I expect it to be fine [tonight]. Wind's low, no rain — we're all go," Mr Wild said. He described meticulous preparation to implement the vision. "We've got specialised people that do all the choreography for the show and make that wow factor," Mr Wild said. A pilot would run the software, and another pilot would be on standby. "So, he's got a manual control, too, if we need some help from him." The show was produced in collaboration with mana whenua and cultural and cultural advisers. Te Rūnaka o Ōtākou and Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki representatives Tāwini White and Paulette Tamati-Elliffe issued a joint statement about the project and Matariki generally. "This drone show celebrates our environment and traditional mahika kai, the procurement of highly valued natural resources that have sustained mana whenua over generations," they said. The 2025 theme acknowledged Matariki and Puaka as important stars. "During the national hautapu that was hosted by Ōtākou last year, a karakia for Puaka was included, as well as karakia to the stars of Matariki, to celebrate both," the mana whenua representatives said. "Together, they guide us into a season of reflection, celebration and hope. "It is a time of growth for our customs and our knowledge is strengthened through practice that can be shared with our community."
Scoop
3 days ago
- Climate
- Scoop
Rain Or Shine, Matariki Brings Us Together
Covering period of Wednesday 18th - Monday 23rd June After a week of crisp, cold days, MetService is forecasting a shift in the weather as rain moves over the country on Thursday, and showers lingering into Friday morning. While some spots start the day under cloud with a few showers about, the eastern South Island is shaping up as the best spot for viewing Matariki or Puanga— and others may get lucky with clearer skies too. Rain moves onto the western South Island late Wednesday continuing into Thursday with some places possibly seeing heavier rain and even thunderstorms. Meanwhile, eastern areas will notice increasing cloud, with patchy rain expected for Southland, inland Otago, and inland Canterbury. On Thursday, rain and wind spread across the North Island, with wetter weather expected out west. Eastern areas like Wairarapa, Tairāwhiti Gisborne, and Hawke's Bay will also see some rain, though it should be brief as the weather system moves through. So, what does this mean for Friday morning's Matariki and Puanga viewing? MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane says, 'Showers will still be hanging around, especially in western parts of both islands and the upper North Island, and with showers comes cloud. But there may be gaps – and some spots might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse. Check out MetService's Cloud Forecast for the outlook for your spot.' 'Eastern parts of the South Island look most promising – Canterbury near the coast, Marlborough, and maybe even Nelson,' Makgabutlane says. The rest of Friday will bring a similar mix of passing showers and dry spells. 'But rain or shine, this year's theme Matariki mā Puanga – Celebrating Together will still ring true, giving us a chance to gather indoors or out,' Makgabutlane says. The weekend looks to bring a classic Kiwi winter pattern: a few showers here and there, but also plenty of fine breaks. 'The rain radar will be your friend this long weekend! There will be chances to enjoy some time outdoors,' Makgabutlane adds. Inland Otago and the Mackenzie Basin have been sitting under low cloud and cold conditions. While Saturday might bring a brief improvement, the cloud could return before the weekend's out. Overnight temperatures will reflect that too – after a short-lived increase, Sunday morning looks to dip below zero again.
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Climate
- Otago Daily Times
'Just too icy': Dunedin drivers slide into strife
Police are advising caution after receiving "multiple reports" involving icy roads in Dunedin this morning. At least three cars were involved in a crash near the intersection of London St and Heriot Row this morning. One appeared to have crashed through the fence of a neighbouring property. Iraklis Papadopoulos said he was on his way to work when his motorcycle "completely slipped on the road" at the intersection. Icy conditions on Heriot Row, in central Dunedin, caused a number of minor crashes this morning. Photo: Supplied/Gregory Easton "It was just too icy, I suppose." "My bike definitely won't start and it makes a weird noise when I try to get the ignition going." The route was the same one he always took to work. In four years, this was the first time he had encountered problems with ice, he said. "It's just kind of unlucky, I just wasn't expecting it." At the intersection of Cosy Dell Rd and Queen St, pedestrians and motorists were also seen attempting to avoid slipping on a large patch of ice. Southern District police advised motorists to be aware of the cold and icy conditions, and to take caution when out and about on roads. "Police have received multiple reports around the district due to ice on the roads, especially in the Dunedin area near Heriot Row and London St. "Please limit yourself to essential travel only and allow for extra time on your journey. "Reducing speed, using headlights and windscreen wipers, and watching your visibility will also ensure a safe trip." It is a slippery start for many Southerners this morning after temperatures plummeted well into the negatives overnight. At 7am, Mosgiel was sitting at a frigid -5degC, though MetService claimed it felt -7. Becks topped the teeth-chattering charts with -8, Lindis Valley got to -7 and Arrowtown was at -6. NZTA Waka Kotahi and local councils have urged caution on roads in Central Otago and the Queenstown/Lakes areas due to the icy conditions. Cautions are in place on SH6 between Gibbston and Kingston, and from Wānaka to Haast Pass. Icy conditions are also expected on SH8 between Tarras and Omarama, and on SH85 between Ranfurly and Alexandra. No specific warnings are in place for Dunedin drivers but ice remains likely around the city. QLDC said there were reports of thick fog in many places, as well as ice. Grit had been applied on Malaghans Rd, Littles Rd, and Dalefield Rd in Queenstown. Particular caution has been urged for those in Fernhill. There have been no reports of accidents on Southern roads due to the conditions this morning but police urged drivers to take extra care and increase their following distances.
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Climate
- Otago Daily Times
Icy start on Southern roads
It is a slippery start for many Southerners this morning after temperatures plummeted well into the negatives overnight. At 7am, Mosgiel was sitting at a frigid -5degC, though MetService claimed it felt -7. Becks topped the teeth-chattering charts with -8, Lindis Valley got to -7 and Arrowtown was at -6. NZTA Waka Kotahi and local councils have urged caution on roads in Central Otago and the Queenstown/Lakes areas due to the icy conditions. Cautions are in place on SH6 between Gibbston and Kingston, and from Wānaka to Haast Pass. Icy conditions are also expected on SH8 between Tarras and Omarama, and on SH85 between Ranfurly and Alexandra. No specific warnings are in place for Dunedin drivers but ice remains likely around the city. QLDC said there were reports of thick fog in many places, as well as ice. Grit had been applied on Malaghans Rd, Littles Rd, and Dalefield Rd in Queenstown. Particular caution has been urged for those in Fernhill. There have been no reports of accidents on Southern roads due to the conditions this morning but police urged drivers to take extra care and increase their following distances.
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
The future for Northland weather: Storm alerts are 'the new normal'
This year has already brought almost every possible weather extreme to Northland, with record rain hot on the heels of a drought, a cyclone and even a tornado. Are Northlanders experiencing a new normal? Is this a sign of things to come? Or just par for the course in a region that's always had its share of extremes? First came the tornado that struck Mangawhai in the early hours of 26 January, tearing off roofs and leaving two people badly injured. Then came the big dry, with some areas recording just 10 per cent of their normal rainfall. Drought was declared on 7 March. Huge swells generated by Cyclone Tam washed away part of State Highway 11 along the Paihia waterfront. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf Next, the heavens opened and Northland switched almost overnight from drought to flood. Kerikeri, Kaitāia and Whangārei all set new records for April rainfall. Next, on 17 April, Cyclone Tam trashed Northland's power networks, leaving more than 24,000 households in the dark. It was a week before some homes had their power restored. And it did not stop there, with slips triggered by more torrential rain closing State Highway 1 through Mangamuka Gorge twice in a matter of days. Workers inspect damage to State Highway 11, in Paihia, caused by Cyclone Tam. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf So what's going on? Is this a new normal? Should Northlanders be preparing for ever more extreme weather? MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said although drought was declared across Northland in early March, the big dry stretched back to the previous October. "So that period of dry weather from last year spilled into this year, and the first three months of the year were particularly dry in Northland … But actually, interestingly, not long after that, in April, we saw quite a deluge of rain for many parts of Northland, in particular places like Whangārei as well as Kerikeri and other spots even saw their wettest April on record. So from extremely dry to very wet in quite a short space of time." Kerikeri's April rainfall, 593mm, was almost four times the long-term average for the month of 151mm. As for cyclones, however, Makgabutlane said the southwest Pacific experienced fewer than usual last season - with just one, Cyclone Tam, reaching New Zealand. Flooding across State Highway 10 at Kāeo caused by Cyclone Tam. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf Just five reached the threshold of being given a name, half the long-term average. Makgabutlane said climate modelling did not suggest more cyclones in future. "But what is expected is for them to become more extreme, so more rain and stronger winds. It's the severity of those cyclones that is likely to change." Droughts were also expected to become more severe, she said. MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane says cyclones are expected to become more severe, and droughts longer and more frequent. Photo: Screenshot Modelling by Niwa and the Northland Regional Council suggested droughts would be more frequent in future, and last longer. However, Makgabutlane said it was too soon to say if the extremes of the past six months were "the new normal". "It has been quite tough on the ground in Northland, but it's probably still a bit too early to say if this is how it's going to be going forward. But it could be a hint of things to come in the future." Far North Mayor Moko Tepania said of the six summers since he was first elected as a councillor, only one had been free of drought or water restrictions. Cyclone Tam brought widespread power outages across the Far North. Photo: Top Energy Those dry conditions also led to major wildfires, and late summer often brought damaging cyclones. "In my first full year as mayor, we had Cyclone Gabrielle and ex-Tropical Cyclone Hale hit us. I think there were 13 or 14 significant weather events that year as well. So it was really a baptism of wind and rain as mayor," he said. There had been little let-up since then. "So it's been a pretty crazy three years as mayor, six years as an elected member." Tepania said it was challenging for the Far North District Council to serve 75,000 people living in 40 settlements scattered across a vast area. The Mangawhai tornado destroyed homes and left two people seriously injured. Photo: Peter de Graaf / RNZ Many of those people struggled day-to-day just to get by. "You put on top of that the extreme weather we've been experiencing and it all adds up, and brings monumental challenges to us. The biggest one that I've probably had to deal with or seen affect our people on the daily is, of course, our roading network," Tepania said. "Our council has 2500km of local roads we have to look after. Cyclone Gabrielle caused over 140 slips across our network. We are still, to this day, working on 43 of those slips, and we will be spending something like $32.5 million over the next two years to still fix slip repairs that were caused by Cyclone Gabrielle two years ago." Damage on that scale also had a huge impact on rates in a district where many people struggled to pay their bills. State Highway 1 through Mangamuka Gorge was twice closed by slips triggered by April's record-breaking rain. Photo: Supplied / Jo Leef It was fortunate that NZTA Waka Kotahi picked up a large share of the bill through regular funding assistance, reflecting the district's sprawling road network and affordability issues, topped up with emergency works funding. Tepania said it sometimes felt like storms were lining up to have a go at the Far North. Seeing Cyclone Tam bearing down in April brought back vivid memories of Cyclone Gabrielle. "I was thinking, oh my goodness, we've only just got funding confirmation from NZTA to fix the remaining slips we've had since Cyclone Gabrielle, and we've finally got our tender panel up and running so that we can pump the work out to our contractors and get the work done a lot faster … and then you get another cyclone warning come through, and you see it tracking down, and you see the power going out across all of our towns, and you're waiting for the reports to come back. It's really frightening, to be honest." Mayor Moko Tepania says it sometimes feels like storms are queuing up to have a bash at the Far North. Photo: Peter de Graaf Tepania believed Northland's recent weather extremes were part of a new normal. He said he was proud of the work the council was doing to adapt to a changing climate, and helping communities prepare emergency response plans so they could better withstand future natural disasters. He was also grateful to the Northland Regional Council for flood reduction schemes underway in places like Awanui and Moerewa, and to NZTA for a project at Turntable Hill which had ended years of flooding across State Highway near Moerewa. A Mangawhai business destroyed by the January 26 tornado. Photo: Peter de Graaf / RNZ Tepania said Far Northerners had made it through all the extremes nature had thrown at them in recent years because they were resilient, and they were prepared. "Now it's the new normal that when we get a weather alert come through, or we tell our people we're at a yellow watch or an orange warning, people do take care. They check the tides, they make sure they know where their whānau are, and we manage to get through it each and every time, because it's the new norm," he said. "I don't know what tomorrow looks like, I don't know what the rest of this winter looks like. So trying to be as prepared as possible, and for our people to be as prepared as possible, is very important." * This is the first in a series exploring extreme weather in Northland, and what's being done to prepare for it and reduce its impact. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
