Frosty conditions in Whanganui over one of the coldest nights of the year

Ice on the Dublin St bridge. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui residents were greeted with a frosty Friday morning as weather stations across the region recorded one of the coldest nights of the year.

MetService meteorologist Ngaire Wotherspoon said Whanganui dropped to a low temperature of 1.6C at 8am Friday morning, while Whanganui Airport recorded a low of 3.3C at the same time.

Further out in the region, Santoft recorded the coldest overnight temperature of -3C and a weather station at Flat Hills also dropped into negative temperatures at -0.7C.

It wasn’t the coldest night of the year for the city though, as on June 11 Whanganui City recorded a low of 1.1C.

“So it’s not quite the lowest but it got pretty close ... it would feel about the same,” Wotherspoon said.

However, the average overnight temperature in June for the region was 5C, and she said temperatures had been creeping down recently from the warm start to the year the region recorded.

The cold nights were due to a ridge of high pressure hanging over the region.

“That means really still conditions and we’ve been having some really clear nights so it’s really good for the heat to radiate away and for the ground to cool the air quite a lot.

“Because it’s so still you don’t get any wind mixing any of the warmer air in so the air just sits there and gets all of the heat leached out of it,” she said.

However, daytime highs were around 14C for both Wednesday and Thursday, which was around average for the month.

Looking ahead to the weekend, clouds were expected to start rolling in on Saturday with the possibility of showers late in the evening.

This would lead to a cloudy and showery Sunday, with similar conditions expected to continue into the start of the week.

However, Whanganui was expected to be sheltered from the worst of the weather in the North Island, with severe thunderstorms and heavy rain watches in place for the northern and northeastern regions.

“It’s going to be pretty showery ... but you’re in quite a sheltered direction.”

Whanganui would be mostly shielded from the torrential weather because the activity would be coming mainly from the east.

Ice warning

The public are being urged to watch out for slippery walkways and footpaths as winter takes hold.

Whanganui District Council active transport facilitator Norman Gruebsch said it was great to see more people commuting by foot or cycling but it was important to remain vigilant as temperatures dropped.

“This happens every year,” he said.

“When there are 0C or 1C mornings, all the bridges - railway, city, Cobham and Dublin - get icy. That applies to accessways to the bridges as well.

“Be mindful on these mornings because some of these footpaths frost over, especially in exposed areas or places that are southerly-facing.

“Pockets of cold air just hold and create slippery surfaces.”