It’s been a wild 24 hours across the country and ex-cyclone Ita is in no hurry to leave – but the storm is now slowly unwinding.

Compared to Lusi, Ita picked up strength as it moved through the Tasman – it also came in from the north west, a direction that puts New Zealand in a far more vulnerable position for severe weather.

Ita is west of the South Island and across Good Friday and into the weekend the low is likely to remain put, but will slowly begin to unwind.

WeatherWatch.co.nz first informed the national media about Ita over a week ago, and told some media outlets – such as CountryTV – two weeks ago about the serious risks of this storm.  Many people vented on social media sites yesterday complaining the nation wasn’t adequately warned.  MetService had at least 24 warnings in force across Thursday.

Over the next few days expect conditions to gradually improve but heavy showers, isolated thunderstorms and a few bands of rain are still in the mix.  Eastern and north eastern areas may well be the sunniest and warmest over the long weekend.

Image /mandenomoments.com

– WeatherWatch.co.nz