HOUSTON – Hello and welcome back to our wild weather blog, I’m KPRC 2 meteorologist Caroline Brown and we have a lot to talk about. Last edition we discussed flooding rainfall in New Zealand and the Texas ice storm. This week we’re going back to New Zealand, as a powerful cyclone is bearing down on the North Island. We’re also discussing intense winds a bit closer to home.

Cyclone bears down on New Zealand:

Earlier this month we discussed flooding rainfall in Auckland, and now New Zealand is once again seeing intense rainfall from Cyclone Gabrielle. Ahead of this powerful cyclone, evacuations were issued but not all heeded the warnings. The combination of strong winds, high storm surge and flooding rainfall has destroyed thousands of homes. Scenes from New Zealand are eerily reminiscent of when we see hurricanes in Southeast Texas with hundreds of folks needing rescue from rooftops and, sadly, several have perished in the storm.

The cyclone has weakened and moved away from the North Island, but the recovery and cleanup will take quite a bit of time. New Zealand has declared a national emergency due to Cyclone Gabrielle, which is only the third national emergency ever issued in New Zealand.

Intense winds across the States:

We have had some breezy days here in Southeast Texas lately, but it’s nothing in comparison to our friends to our north and west where they saw high wind warnings and blowing dust alerts. In West Texas, sustained winds were 30 to 40 mph with wind gusts peaking up to 60 mph! This is nearly hurricane-force winds. When you have such gusty conditions in dry regions, it’s no surprise that dust storms were frequent (called a haboob!) Haboobs reduces visibility quickly, which unfortunately led to several traffic accidents.

Across Colorado on Wednesday a blanket of snow fell, but it was difficult to measure the snow as there were also ferocious winds blowing. These winds caused whiteout conditions. The intense winds also led to windchill values being subzero.

Something Good:

Although many performers would cancel for weather, Ed Sheeran let the show go on at Auckland’s Eden Park this past Saturday. Allegedly Sheeran asked the audience “Will you dance in the rain with me tonight?” I absolutely love his dedication.

Stay safe always,

Caroline