John Rutherford from Hertfordshire in England pulls Thomas Cole, with glasses, and Jack Rutherford along on the early season snow at Whakapapa yesterday. Photo / SNPA
John Rutherford from Hertfordshire in England pulls Thomas Cole, with glasses, and Jack Rutherford along on the early season snow at Whakapapa yesterday. Photo / SNPA
Potential for hail, strong winds and heavy showers in most places for rest of the week.
The cold snap that left much of the country shivering is now on its way out - but while the weather is set to warm up over the next two days, a wet weekend is on the cards.
Much of the country was plunged into an early winter yesterday, withsnow falling overnight on Monday and temperatures dropping below zero in some places.
Snow fell across Southland and Otago, while in the North Island there was snow on the Desert Road as temperatures plummeted to -1C.
Many Aucklanders had a rough night's sleep after thunderstorms arrived at 3.30am yesterday morning and continued until dawn.
More than 80 lightning strikes in two hours jolted people from their beds as a large thunderstorm passed over the northern North Island early yesterday morning.
Auckland experienced the worst of the storm. The loudest thunder claps came about 3am when a flurry of lightning struck over central Auckland.
MetService meteorologist David Miller said the southwest flow that brought the wintry weather to the country was gradually easing.
"The coldest air is moving off the country ... it's on its way out."
Today, areas exposed to southwesterlies, such as Auckland and Waikato, would bear the brunt of the last of the cold weather, with showers forecast throughout the day.
Auckland would be warmer today, with a high of 19C forecast - a welcome increase after temperatures dipped as low as 11C yesterday.
However, there was a moderate risk of thunderstorms this afternoon, Mr Miller said.
There was also the potential for hail, strong winds and heavy showers.
Ohakune was one of many places to see snow yesterday, but it will not last.
In the South Island it was a similar story, with exposed places such as Southland, Clutha, Christchurch and Buller likely to see showers.
"Inland it will be mainly fine so for much of the South Island it's not too bad."
The snow that had painted much of the South Island white over the last couple of days would not make an appearance, Mr Miller said.
Tomorrow, things were looking much better across the country.
"It might be a bit frosty to start with again in those inland areas, but apart from that it's going to be quite a nice day [tomorrow]," Mr Miller said.
Looking ahead to Friday, a front was set to hit the South Island and move north, which would bring drizzle over the weekend.
