Lusi Moves Downwards

(Above): Tropical storm Lusi due north of the North Island at 7:00pm 14 May 2014

(Above): Lusi due west of the Northland with strong onshore conditions on the east coast north of Auckland. The eye has moved a considerable distance in the last 24 hours,

(Above): The eye of the storm, which has since been downgraded, lying to the top left corner of this image. On this evening’s News at Six, we saw reports that the coastal town of Paihia (bottom right corner) was lashed by downpours and Lusi’s  high-speed winds for most of the day.

In Reikorangi, we had a hot humid day ahead of the expected easterlies. Late afternoon, we experienced a few boats of gusty winds, but nothing extraordinary to write home about. Some huge raindrops fell a short while ago, prompting me to take a dip-reading of the drinking water tank ahead of the anticipated showers: 6,409 litres

Lusi in the Sky without Diamonds

For the last couple of days, we have seen threats of a tropical  cyclone developing North of New Zealand, named Lusi.

©http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-184.92,-34.12,1024

The deadly cyclone is expected to hit northern New Zealand tonight, with the brunt of the storm to be felt across the North Island tomorrow as it tracks southwest just off the coast of the country, before hitting the South Island on Sunday. Severe weather warnings have been issued for Northland, Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Nelson and Marlborough.

Northland could expect 80mm-100mm of rain by tomorrow afternoon, MetService said.

At Waikanae we desperately want rain for drinking water. Desperately, but not that desperately that we would want to risk a cyclone. Thank you very much. I would hope that we get the same as Northland, say 80mm, but without the high winds, though. Please.