Alert opened: 27 Jun 2025
Heavy Rain Warning - Orange
Area: Dunedin and Clutha
Period: 21 hours from 9:00 pm Fri 27 Jun to 6:00 pm Sat 28 Jun
Forecast: Expect 70 to 90 mm of rain. Peak rates of 10 to 15 mm/h, mainly during Saturday morning and afternoon.
Low chance of upgrading to a Red Warning.
Impact: Streams and rivers may rise rapidly. Surface flooding, slips, and difficult driving conditions are possible.
Action: Clear your drains and gutters to prepare for heavy rain. Avoid low-lying areas and drive cautiously.
Heavy Rain Watch
Area: North Otago
Period: 12 hours from 3:00 pm Fri 27 Jun to 3:00 am Sat 28 Jun
Forecast: Periods of heavy rain, and amounts may approach warning criteria.
Moderate chance of upgrading to a Warning.
Heavy Snow Watch
Area: Central Otago, Southland north of Lumsden, also inland Dunedin and Clutha
Period: 9 hours from 3:00 am Sat 28 Jun to 12:00 pm Sat 28 Jun
Forecast: Periods of heavy snow above 400 metres, where snowfall amounts may approach warning criteria.
Moderate chance of upgrading to a Warning.
Affected districts
Dunedin City has the second largest land area of any New Zealand city, ranging from intensive urban development around the Otago Harbour to sparsely populated high country in Strath Taieri. Dunedin has beautiful built heritage, stunning scenery & unique biodiversity.
Dunedin City can experience storms, flooding, earthquakes, wildfire, infrastructure failure, space weather and has low lying areas that are at risk to tsunami.
For more information about hazards in the Dunedin district, visit Otago Regional Council's natural hazards portal
Being prepared to look after yourself during an emergency will help you, your family and community through times of disruption.
If life or property is at immediate risk, always call 111.
If you need assistance during an emergency, your first point of contact should be family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues, or those immediately around you wherever you are.
During an emergency, information will be available through several channels from Dunedin City Council and Emergency Management Otago.
When an emergency affects the district, the Dunedin City Council will provide information to the community and visitors through a variety of channels, including their website and Facebook pages.
The Council may use traditional media channels like radio and local newspapers to share information if available.
Sign up to Otago Gets Ready to receive alerts.
Radio Dunedin - 1305 AM, 95.4 & 106.7FM
More FM - 97.4 FM
The Hits - 89.4 FM
The Breeze 98.2 FM
Magic Talk - 96.6 FM
Newstalk ZB - 1044AM
RNZ National - 101.4 FM
RNZ National - 810 AM
OAR FM - 105.4 FM, 1575 AM
Leave home only if you are in immediate danger or if you are officially advised to.
Stay inside (unless you are advised to evacuate) if there is a chemical or gas disaster or a storm. Listen to the radio, look at online media channels or TV for information. If the power is off, you can use a radio app on your phone, a solar or battery powered radio or your car radio.
If you need to evacuate, secure your home as though you were going on holiday and turn off power, water, and gas. Ensure each adult in your household knows how to turn these off.
Evacuate if there is:
No one knows a community better than those who live in it!
Community Resilience Groups are a team people in your area who are trained to open and run a Community Emergency hub. They work with Emergency Management Otago to develop community response plans by the community, for the community. They are a great way for the community to come together, discuss and outline how they plan to respond and keep each other safe during an emergency event.
To ensure that Community Resilience Groups have the capability to activate, training can be provided by Emergency Management Otago to cover:
• Community Emergency Hub operations.
• Health and safety requirements
• Status reporting and radio communications.
Contact your local Emergency Management Advisor for further information on creating a community resilience group for your area or to join an existing one.
Emergency Management Otago works with communities across Dunedin to develop capability and resilience within each community so that they can prepare for and respond to emergencies.
Together we have created a series of community resilience guides. These are living documents and are a short, ready-reference guide with information about local hazards and practical tips for preparedness.
Aramoana Community Resilience Guide
Blueskin Bay Community Resilience Guide
Karitane Community Resilience Guide
Lower West Harbour Community Resilience Guide
Mosgiel Taieri Community Resilience Guide
North Dunedin Community Resilience Guide
Otago Peninsula Community Resilience Guide
Outram Community Resilience Guide
Southern Coastal Community Resilience Guide
Saddle Hill Green Island Community Resilience Guide
Southern Urban Dunedin Community Resilience Guide
Strath Taieri Community Resilience Guide
