Snow fell in hills to the west last night

Just a dusting this morning up the Rakauroa, rain has washed it away. Picture by Tara Hunt

The second snowfall in the district this year fell on hills around Matawai and Tiniroto last night, even though it is not officially winter yet.

This morning a dusting of snow could still be seen on Whakapunake (out past Tiniroto) and up Rakauroa Road (off Matawai Road).

Yesterday was the coldest day of the year so far, with a maximum of 11 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 7.2 — a variation of just 3.8 degrees.

There have also been four below-zero frosts this month, with Saturday down to an air temperature of 2.2 degrees and a ground minimum of minus 1.4.

But despite the past few days being chilly, May is still going to end up on the weather books as warmer than usual.

While day and night temperatures dropped significantly thanks to a southerly airflow arriving last week, data from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) show the month is still running more than a degree warmer than usual for the time of year, and about 5 percent sunnier than usual.

This is the result of May’s usual north-west winds being more dominant throughout most of the month.

The first snowfall was on April 10.