Temperatures drop, the risk of strong winds in southern parts in the coming days

Those who live in the lower south may need to put an electric blanket on their bed and add an extra layer this week when the first decent cold snap comes this fall.

MetService meteorologist Andrew James said many South Islanders should expect “cooler-than-usual” weather, as winds from southwest Antarctica cause a cold snap across most of the island during the rest of the week.

He said a cold of 3 degrees Celsius was recorded at Christchurch airport early Tuesday morning, 3C lower than the fall average.

Further south, Timaru, Ashburton, and Dunedin recorded a low of about 5 ° C, Invercargill reached just over 7 ° C, while the South Lake District recorded just over 3 ° C.

MetService also issued a strong wind watch for Banks Peninsula and Coastal Otago, south of Palmerston, for most of Tuesday and until early Wednesday morning.

James said the southwest winds reached up to 63 km / h on the Banks Peninsula just after 10 a.m.

They would continue collecting throughout the day, becoming severe winds of up to 120 km / h in some exposed places.

He said there were no significant snow forecasts, but that some of the alpine passes on the South Island would receive light dust during the week.

The Homer Tunnel in Fiordland, the Crown Range Rd and the Lindis Pass in Otago received about 2 centimeters of snow on Tuesday.

About 5 cm of snow had also settled in parts of Southland and Otago that were 600 meters above sea level, James said.

Overnight snowfall closed a section of State Highway 94 between Te Anau and Milford Sound, but the road reopened shortly after 9:30 a.m.

Easter Monday brought heavy rains in many parts of the country when the kiwis ducked inside in the midst of the national closure.

The rain was brought in by a low and associated front that moved across the country on Monday. It was also expected to bring strong winds, hail, and thunderstorms south of Canterbury, but did not make landfall.