Trees and fences in Miramar toppled in the extreme winds on Sunday night. Photo: RNZ / Soumya Bhamidipati
Climate scientists are blaming the ferocious gales that battered large parts of the country this week on El Niño joining forces with climate change in spring.
Gusts of 246km/h were recorded at Cape Turnagain, between Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa overnight on Monday.
The wind in Wainuiomata was described as extreme by many residents, whose homes were battered.
Dozens of flights were cancelled and many people lost power because of the strong winds battering the central and lower North Island.
NIWA meteorologist Tristan Meyer said the winds were indicative of El Niño becoming more intense due warming ocean temperatures, and it was a precursor to a hot, dry and windy summer.
Speaking to Morning Report, Meyer said people in Wellington would have really felt those "gale force winds" on Sunday.
MetService recorded 136km/h in the middle of Wellington, the strongest recorded gust since 2015.
"At times, it even felt kind of akin to being in a (Category) 1 tropical cyclone. That's the sort of strength of wind that we were seeing with that powerful front that came through over the weekend."
The weekend had an "interesting" set-up with a series of strong fronts battering the South Island, and the North Island to a lesser extent.
"These sorts of set-ups that we are getting are king of indicative of a burgeoning El Niño condition, and with El Niños, what we see is more frequent spells of these westerly winds."
Meyer said it was hard to predict if New Zealand would see another set-up exactly like what happened on the weekend over the summer, but it was possible.
"The signal is there for increased winds, the signal is there for increased heat in eastern areas and drier than normal conditions in eastern areas as well, and it's typical flavour of El Niño, that's what we're seeing."
December was likely to have more frequent hot days, he said.
"Particularly when we compare to last year, when we even failed to get above 35 degrees during last year, so I would say it's a pretty good chance we crack that 35C mark and perhaps even higher this year."
