I live in a city which carries the nickname “Windy Wellington” and last night the name suited it very well. A ferocious storm has hit the whole country and has come straight off Antarctica. Around 6pm the storm blew into my town.
Last night we rescued our outdoor furniture just before it was blown through a glass sliding door.
And we lost power twice which meant we were very cold. Our gas heater relies on electricity to power the fan! Without the fan the heater cuts out. Bed was the place to head but only to listen to the power of the storm as the house was buffeted almost non stop all night. The wind shrieked and howled with noises resembling banshees, wild monsters and other horror story characters. There were thumps and bumps and the sound of chain saws as emergency crews cleared the nearby fallen trees off the roads.
First light shows a section of very old fence has blown over, a gate (also old) is reeling on its hinges, we have a leak in the loo ceiling (seems an appropriate room for a leak to spring!) and the largest kowhai tree is at an odd angle. I hope we can rescue that lovely tree but time will tell on that one. So only minor damage really and for that we are very fortunate. Others have not fared so well.
It is still very stormy and freezing cold this morning so no photos as yet. It is a day to stay home with the heater going and the slow cooker preparing lamb shanks for dinner tonight…..well as long as the power stays on!
ordinarygoodness 
It must have been awful to have the power go off – and how ironic that the gas heater needs electricity for it to work! Last time the power went on and off, I filled a hot water bottle and a big thermos flask, so at least I could have a hot drink. Keep warm Lynley; it sounds really wild down in Wellington.
It is certainly bleak when the power fails as it did. We have just had another short outage so supply is obviously still fragile. Most gas heated that are flued in need electricity to ignite and then to run the fan. Pellet fires also need electricity to keep them running. No very useful when the power goes off.
We hope things are going to settle soon.
Pleased to hear from you this morning. I have been thinking about you and wondering how you fared. Wellington certainly received a battering. I spoke to a friend in Wellington last night and I could hear the banshee wind in the background as we talked. In comparison, it’s quite calm here now that the snow has stopped.
Thank you for thinking about me. I was a long rugged night with very interrupted sleep. We are hoping for a better night tonight. This storm does seem to keep on giving. I hope you are warm and comfortable.
We are comfortable inside. The outside temperature is wicked, in the old fashioned, normal meaning of the word 🙂
It does sound bitter weather. I am pleased you are comfortable.
Very hard when the power goes off and you have no heating. We have a portable unflued gas heater – not at all green, but very handy if there is a power cut. During earthquake times we even made toast on it. The sun has shone through a few times here, and much of the snow has been washed away. We’re just waiting to see whether there will be another dump.
It does look very cold in Christchurch and maybe more snow will fall in the morning. I am not convinced we are in the clear yet with some rain back and the wind still blowing about a little.
We shared some of your storm up here on the coast at leigh… we lost our power for twelve hours a few nights ago, but this time came through with just a few pittosporums uprooted… Our little wood burner boils the water for a cup of tea, and heats up soup when the power is off, so it’s a life-saver… but it was cold and miserable fot all the animals in the fields with no shelter…
Hope your power stays on now….
Thank you for your good wishes. We lost power for 5 minutes today and I felt very relieved that was all. It sounds as if it is has been extreme in Auckland and parts north with this storm. Here’s to some sunny, dry and calm weather for a few days for all the country.
…and our thoughts have been with you all down there. I rang our son, and he said he tied everything down last night. Hope it settles down – we’re flying down on Tuesday…
I wish I had tied the outdoor furniture down in the afternoon. All is well and we were all safe so that is the main thing. Maybe Wellington will turn on some splendid post Southerly weather for your visit. Wellington after a southerly buster can be Wellington at its very best.
That does sound very wild and I am glad you survived unscathed! I hope that the storm has died down now. Straight from Antarctica – good grief!
It was a fearsome night. It is much calmer tonight thank goodness. But the storm system is still lurking so we are hoping it moves away quickly now.
Every so often the doors to Antarctica open and we get a blast….Here’s to better weather soon. I hope you are enjoying more sunny summer weather.
Winter storms really do seem (more) worse than summer storms. The cold always makes it worse!
I’m so glad you came through it fairly well.
Our storms come to us by way of Canada.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Thanks for your good wishes Linda. I imagine storms out of Canada in the winter could be nasty. The big southern ocean below our small set of islands does throw us some big storms at times. This one came directly off Antarctica!
Wow, that sounds like an energetic storm. As long as everyone is safe I find high winds quite exhilerating!
In an amazing turn of events there were no casualties in the storm which is great news. We are used to exhilerating winds here but 200kms per hour gusts wrought a lot of havoc and destruction. It is sad to see so many trees felled like matchsticks. Interestingly the majority seemed to be introduced species. Our native trees fared better.
That is interesting, I guess they are better adapted to your windstorms. I didn’t know that New Zealand was such a windy place….and so now I know why you said the shot I took of the dogs at the top of Arthur’s Seat could have been in Wellington 🙂
The native trees do have to withstand some pretty fierce gales at times.
New Zealand’s latitude means we get hit by “The Roaring Forties” coming out of the Southern Ocean so it can really blow a lot. We are forecast to have gale north westerlies tonight and tomorrow! Lots of our trees grow bent from the wind:-)))