Jack Frost Makes An Appearance

It’s been a snowy weekend for the South Island high country and while the snow is on the way out, MetService is forecasting chilly temperatures to follow - likely the coldest week this year for some.

An Orange Heavy Snow Warning remains in place for inland Canterbury and southern inland Marlborough into this afternoon (Monday), with snow affecting high level roads. Blustery southerlies funnelling through Cook Strait are affecting Wellington and coastal Marlborough, while gusty southeasterlies batter the West Coast. Strong Wind Watches are in place for these areas today, then the winds are forecast to ease.

Rain and cold southerlies make for a wintry day in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne tomorrow, while the rest of the North Island and east of the South Island have some showery weather in store. MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan adds, “There’s also the risk of another foggy start tomorrow in Auckland, though it’s looking less likely than it has been the past few days”.

“Most of Aotearoa can expect settled weather on Wednesday and Thursday aside from showers affecting the top of the country and a couple along the east coasts, though the real kicker is how cold it’s going to be,” Corrigan remarks.

Most places in the South Island are looking to remain in single digit temperatures until the weekend, and severe frosts are on the cards for inland and southern regions with temperatures plummeting to -5°C in Southland and inland Otago overnight tonight and tomorrow.

“Temperatures in Wanaka and Queenstown are likely to hang around or below freezing for most of the week ahead aside from some slight warming in the afternoons, which means it may be the coldest week of the year for these places,” says Corrigan. “Alexandra looks unlikely to come in colder than the seven days they experienced earlier this winter around the shortest day on the 22 June.”

The North Island gets a taste of the chills later this week with widespread frosts expected on Thursday and Friday nights, though daytime highs remain mostly above the 10°C mark.

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