[ad_1]
Low temperatures will hang around the South Island on Wednesday, but there will be no more snow that covered many southern centers and closed roads Tuesday.
In Christchurch, mercury was forecast to rise to 10 degrees Celsius on Wednesday after a cool night that dipped to 1 ° C.
Timaru was predicted to hit 10C, Dunedin and Invercargill were expected to hit 11C, Blenheim was predicted to hit 12C and Nelson at 13C.
MetService weather forecaster Paul Ngamanu said the front that had bought the snow from the South Island on Tuesday would have moved to the North Island on Wednesday morning.
He said there could be overnight frosts from Dunedin to Christchurch on Wednesday morning, with areas like Alexandra and Dunedin in line for -5 ° C and “severe” frosts.
Ngamanu said temperatures were expected to rise into their late teens by the end of the work week.
Earlier, MetService meteorologist Peter Little said residents of the southern islands on Tuesday would be “excruciatingly cold” as a front “significantly” lowered temperatures overnight, bringing flurries of snow, sleet and rain to parts. from the south.
Do you have snow in your house? Send your photos to [email protected]
He said the snowfall was widespread and parts of inland Canterbury and Otago settled about 2 inches on the ground early Tuesday morning.
Ashburton, Timaru, Temuka, Fairlie, and the surrounding areas were receiving gusts of up to 100 meters.
Harper Family / Supplied
Early morning snowfall captured at Geraldine Flat between Winchester and Geraldine on Tuesday.
READ MORE:
* Cold front prepared to bring snow and freezing temperatures to the Banks Peninsula and the southern Alpine passes
* Weather: ‘Big divide’ brings heavy snowfall, rain to the east, good conditions to the west
* Weather: snow is decreasing but wet winter weather remains
Coastal areas in the south could also expect some flurries of snow, but they were only expected to settle as low as 300m.
Snow would continue to fall throughout the day as temperatures remained cool across the south.
SUPPLIED
Heavy snow covers parts of Lake Ōhau.
The south north of Gore, the eastern and southern parts of Fiordland and Clutha north of Tapanui also received widespread snowfall, with some areas expecting about 15 cm of snow above 400 m and lower amounts up to 200 m.
“Today is going to be very cold,” Little said.
“Most likely, temperatures will remain in the single digits for most of the day, which rose to 22 degrees after yesterday [Celsius] in Christchurch and Timaru, so today is a significant change. “
Harper Family / Supplied
The cold snap was causing wintry driving conditions on most of the South Island’s roads.
It was 7 ° C in Christchurch at 7am, but it dropped to 3 ° C at 10am. Ashburton, Timaru, Queenstown, and Wānaka recorded 2C at 7am, while Dunedin sat down at 5C.
The cold snap prompted MetService to issue road snow warnings for Lewis Pass (SH7), Arthur’s Pass (SH73), Porters Pass (SH73), Haast Pass (SH6), Lindis Pass (SH8), Crown Range Rd and Milford Rd (SH94)).
Some of the major alpine passes could expect up to 15cm of snow at higher levels.
Tim slade
Snow settles on top of Flagstaff in Dunedin around 10 a.m. Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the New Zealand Transport Agency said snow and ice had affected SH73 Springfield to Castle Hill and SH79 Fairlie to Rangitata, and motorists were advised to be careful.
SH73 was closed to towing vehicles Tuesday morning, but restrictions have since been lifted.
Snow had also closed SH80 (Aoraki / Mt Cook), but the road had reopened at 2pm.
The SH7 Hanmer turnoff to Springs Junction (Lewis Pass) closed around 1:00 pm due to snow. An update was expected at 5pm.
The weather was also significantly affecting roads further south.
Harper Family / Supplied
Inland parts of Canterbury and Otago had about 2 inches of snow settling on the ground early Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the Queenstown Lakes District Council said chains should be placed on all vehicles on Crown Range Rd and “extreme caution” was recommended.
Danseys Pass Rd in Central Otago was closed from the gates beyond the Danseys Pass hotel due to snow and ice.
Joseph Johnson / Stuff
Residents of Christchurch woke up to a cold 7C on Tuesday.
Surface flooding and windblown debris had also affected roads in and around Roxburgh, Alexandra and Cromwell.
The suburbs around Queenstown woke up to snow on the ground while the skifields had a welcome dump.
Supplied
Coronet Peak opened with 8 inches of fresh snow Tuesday morning.
Coronet Peak had 20 cm of fresh snow at the base and up to 40 cm at the top. Cardrona and Treble Cone in Wānaka also reported 20 cm of new snow.
Canterbury’s Mt Hutt and Porters skifields closed their doors on Tuesday.
About 4 cm of snow fell per hour and almost 12 inches fell on the mountain between 24 hours and 11 a.m., according to the Mt Hutt website.
Porters reported 55 cm of snow on the mountain.
Heather whitehead
A snow covered patio on the outskirts of Fairlie in the Mackenzie district.
A spokesperson said the wind and the incoming storm had forced the closure.
Both fields were expected to reopen on Wednesday.
The snowfall prompted the Mountain Security Council to issue an avalanche warning.
Operations manager Nathan Watson said that the immediate aftermath of a storm was very dangerous and that people shouldn’t let fresh snow get in the way of good decision making.
Avalanche risk in the Arthur’s Pass, Aoraki / Mt Cook and Wānaka areas was high, according to the New Zealand Avalanche Advisory.
“Pay special attention to the solar (sunny) aspects and observe your space among other people / parties. They will be the possible triggers, ”said the ad.
Mackenzie Country weather forecaster Jordan Langley said those traveling on any of the southern roads should be prepared to experience snow and ice as temperatures continue to drop throughout the day and into Wednesday.
He said nighttime temperatures were expected to plummet to negative levels and that many areas could receive temperatures as low as -6 ° C.
Additional overnight care will be required tonight and tomorrow (Wednesday) morning on SH8, SH80 and SH79 from Fairlie to Geraldine, he said.
Winter conditions have helped fire crews fight a large fire near Aoraki / Mt Cook National Park.
Mackenzie District Council emergency operations center public information manager Chris Clarke said “urgency and danger” were now out of the picture because the wind was “completely gone” and the rain and snow had hit the area.
MetService also issued a high wind alert for Canterbury and parts of Otago with gales in exposed areas expected to reach 120 km / h.
A New Zealand Fire and Emergency spokesperson confirmed that Christchurch crews had been reported about some cases of trees being dumped onto power lines in rural areas north of the city.
Little said the cold snap would affect the south until Thursday night, when a shift to the northwest was expected to bring warmer winds and temperatures into the weekend.
The cold snap and wet weather in Canterbury follows a warm weekend across much of the country, where parts of the South Island hit record highs on Sunday, with Kaikōura hitting 24.5C.
