Snow has closed five of the country’s highways and a main North Island route is expected to be hit with more than a day’s worth of snow as a cold front creeps up the country.
Vdeio / NZHerald
Snow has closed five of the country’s highways and a main North Island route is expected to be hit with more than a day of snow as a cold front creeps up the country.
MetService meteorologist April Clark said the cold front is tracking over the North Island and showers are following it closely.
A 25-hour snowfall warning is in place for the Desert Rd, which is closed and snow is falling in the hills of Wellington.
People on Christchurch's Port Hills are having snowball fights and are tobogganing. Photo / George Heard
Highways across the South Island closed because of snow and ice include Arthur’s Pass, State Highway 1 between Waitati and Dunedin, State Highway 87 between Outram and Middlemarch and State Highway 75 from Little River to Duvauchelle.
The South Island has woken to a winter wonderland. Photo / George Heard
There is also moderate risk of thunderstorms for central and eastern Bay of Plenty and northern Gisborne this afternoon.
“If these thunderstorms occur, they are likely to be accompanied by localised heavy rain with intensities of 10 to 15mm per hour and small hail,” Clark said.
Snow in Christchurch
Northern Canterbury is enjoying a winter wonderland with snow down to around 200m.
Snow has fallen on Christchurch's Port Hills. Photo / Nathan Morton
Icy roads
Southern District police are asking urging motorists to take extra care on the roads this morning after crashes across Dunedin due to the frosty conditions.
A police spokesperson said there have been crashes on Stuart St in the city, as well as on bridges south of Dunedin on State Highway 1.
“Give yourself extra following distance, and delay travelling if at all possible,” they said.
Clark said there is a snowfall warning for the Desert Rd between 2pm and 11pm today and for the Napier-Taupō road from this evening.
She said areas where it is not snowing can still expect icy conditions, especially in the lower South Island.
“Even if you’re heading out and it’s not snowing, there’s definitely still some wintry conditions out there.”
Mary Holloway, owner of the Powerhouse Cafe & Restaurant in Hanmer Springs, said there had been snow overnight but nothing like they were expecting.
”It’s actually a bit of a non-event. It’s very pretty at the moment, anywhere not paved is white and there’s snow on the hills around Hanmer. It was snowing an hour ago but it’s kind of stopped.”
Shane Adcock, marketing manager for Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools & Spa, said quite a bit of snow was forecast but it had turned out to be a “light dusting”.
Some snow had settled in the village on grass and trees but the streets were clear. There was more snow on Conical Hill and on the mountains.
”There’ll be some beautiful wintry snow photos, possibly a few snowmen and snowball fights.”
Light snow in a paddock outside Hanmer Springs this morning - much less than was forecast. Photo / Shane Adcock
Yesterday, the weather grounded a plane in Wellington because it needed to be “de-iced”, and temperatures plummeted around the country.
In Auckland, cold westerly winds will change to southerly in the evening.
There is expected to be an extra nip in the air, according to MetService, with daytime temperatures in Auckland only reaching 13C.
Hamilton is only expected to climb to 12C, and Wellington only 9C.
For the South Island, Queenstown is only forecast to warm up to a chilly 6C, while Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill are all expected to reach 8C.
Flakes flying in Arrowtown, Otago this morning! ❄️
Our climate station in nearby Queenstown observed sub-freezing temperatures before dawn.pic.twitter.com/4loTr7zfAu
The showers you can see moving north of Oamaru in the rain radar marks the leading edge of the cold change crossing the South Island https://t.co/prKU7NLNY1
Snow is forecast to gradually lower behind this front.
