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| Date/time: 8th Feb 2010 at 9:00 am |
| Issued by: Duty Emergency Management Officer |
Rainfall warnings and observations
Severe weather warning
There are no severe weather warnings in place for the Waikato region.
For the most up to date weather information and warnings, please refer to the MetService.
Observed rainfall
The Waikato region has received between 0mm and 30mm of rainfall over the past 7 days. The greatest rainfall appears to have been received in the Coromandel ranges and the southwest area of the Waikato.
For the most up-to-date rainfall information around the region, please refer to our rainfall and river level webpage.
Long-term forecast
The forecast for the week ahead for most of the region is for scattered showers Monday to Friday except for Wednesday which should be fine. Rain or showers are predicted for the weekend. Coromandel is more likely to have fine weather during the week.
For the most up-to-date weather forecast information, please refer to the MetService.
Overview of river systems in the Waikato region
Lake Taupo catchment
The water level in Lake Taupo is currently 356.730 metres above mean sea level (0.520 metres below the maximum control level of 357.25 metres). The outflow from Lake Taupo is being managed by Mighty River Power in accordance with the relevant Resource Consents and is currently running at 210 cumecs.
The wetness of the surrounding catchment is very low and currently decreasing, with an API value of 32.
For the most up-to-date level of Lake Taupo, please refer to the Mighty River Power website.
Waipa River system
The Waipa River levels are well below early warning flood alarm levels and levels are steady.
The wetness of the surrounding catchment is very low and decreasing with an API value of 33.
For the most up-to-date river level information, please refer to our rainfall and river level webpage.
Lower Waikato River system
The Lower Waikato River levels are steady and are below early warning flood alarm levels. Lake Waikare level is at 5.602 mm and is below the upper operating range of 5.700m.
The wetness of the surrounding catchment has an API of 41 which is low and is currently falling.
For the most up-to-date river level information, please refer to our rainfall and river level webpage.
Waihou River system
The Waihou river levels remain below the alarm levels and are steady.
The wetness of the surrounding catchment is moderate and currently falling. It has an API value of 58.
For the most up-to-date river level information, please refer to our rainfall and river level webpage.
Piako and Waitoa River system
The Piako and Waitoa River Levels are steady and are currently below first flood alarm levels.
The wetness of the surrounding catchment is moderate and decreasing. The API has a value of 46.
For the most up-to-date river level information, please refer to our rainfall and river level webpage.
Coromandel River system
Coromandel river levels are below first flood alarm levels and are steady.
The wetness of the catchment is low and decreasing, with the API at 46.
Environment Waikato emergency management
Environment Waikato emergency management staff are on stand-by to to respond to any river flooding enquiries. If you have any flooding related enquires, please contact the duty Emergency Management Officer on (027) 499 2120 or emo@ew.govt.nz.
Waikato regional civil defence
Civil defence issues in the Waikato Region are managed by the Waikato Civil Defence and Emergency Management (CDEM) Group.
All civil defence issues should be forwarded to your local Distict or City Council. Alternatively, a range of civil defence contacts are provided on the Waikato CDEM Group website.
Further information
There is a variety of information available from both Environment Waikato and other agencies to help to keep the community informed about rainfall and river conditions in the Waikato Region. Some useful links to this information are:
- Rainfall and river level information collected by Environment Waikato are published on our website and are also available through our 0832 Infolines.
- Lake level information for the Waikato River hydro-electric scheme (including Lake Taupo) is available from Mighty River Power.
- Rainfall, lake and river level information for the Tongariro Power Scheme is available from Genesis Energy.
- Current weather conditions, weather forecasts and severe weather bulletins are available from the MetService.
- Wave forecasts are available from NIWA.
- Tidal forecasts are available from NIWA.
- Civil defence information is available from the Waikato CDEM Group or the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management.
- Information on other geological hazards (e.g. earthquakes, volcanos, landslides and tsunamis) is available from Geonet.
- Road conditions are available from the AA Roadwatch and Transit NZ.