Heavy gusts and snowfall as the cold hit Antarctica

A pickup truck skidded on the ice before falling 5 meters from a bridge as snow and cold temperatures rioted the South Island on Tuesday.

In the north, the Auckland Harbor Bridge was closed for more than an hour due to strong gusts, as strong winds hit the top of the country and a tree crushed four cars in Hamilton, but no one was injured.

The Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has warned that more lanes may need to be closed on the Auckland Harbor Bridge, and cold winds from the southwest are expected to strengthen for a time Tuesday afternoon.

MetService said the strong and very cold air current from the southwest would bring “more snow at low levels in parts of the South Island and gales from west to southwest, severe in some places” during the course of the day, including some snow in the North Island.

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Some snow could fall above 700m in the center of the North Island and above 400m in Nelson, Marlborough and the Banks Peninsula.

Strong southwesterly winds around Christchurch could reach 90 kilometers per hour on the Banks Peninsula, but a mainly dry day was expected for the city, MetService said.

Local MetService Auckland meteorologist Georgina Griffiths said the strongest gust on the Auckland Harbor Bridge on Tuesday was 98km / h, coming from the west. It was shortly before 7 a.m., when the cold front that had caused problems further south was moving through the city.

By late morning, the gusts had slowed to be consistently around 75km / h, but could rise again to approach 80km / h in the afternoon. “Tonight the winds drop pretty fast, then we will have light winds for the next four days,” Griffiths said.

The deep low that caused the stormy weather had passed well south of New Zealand. It was not unusual to have such deep lows in the Southern Ocean, the difference this time was that it brought in air from the Antarctic ice sheet, she said.

MetService recorded gusts of 76km / h at Waterview, 72km / h at Auckland Airport, 80km / h at Whangaparaoa and 70km / h at Whenuapai.

The maximum wind gusts recorded at Niwa weather stations were 93 km / h at Sky Tower, 61 km / h at Western Springs, 59 km / h at Mangere, and 50 km / h at Albany.

Snow started falling to sea level in Dunedin around 8 a.m. Tuesday and covered the ground in white in about 20 minutes. It had cleared mostly by 1pm, but was still visible in the hills above the city.

Temperatures remained in the low single digits with sporadic snowfall.

The van accident occurred on State Highway 1, south of Dunedin, around 7 am The two men in the vehicle were taken to Dunedin hospital as a precaution.

Further south, a police spokesman said there had been “a lot of weather-related chaos” reported Tuesday morning.

Trucks had slipped and blocked the road on SH1 between Clinton and Balclutha, and three trucks had gotten stuck in the snow between Lawrence and Waitahuna on SH8.

Several vehicles were stuck in the Manuka Gorge on SH8 due to ice. Contractors were sent to assess the roads, he said.

Southland Mayor Gary Tong said he had been in the region for 39 years and had never seen hurricane-force winds come and go in the same way before.

“It’s a real snow and hail,” Tong said. RNZ Tuesday morning

“It certainly is having an effect on our cattle, calves and lambs, and on our crops that have just been planted.”

However, he noted that farmers had a good warning of bad weather and had prepared and moved livestock where they could.

“It’s usually the first week of September that we get a little bit of a belt, but having it near the end is quite unusual and, as I say, the wind is extreme.”

Snow also fell on the hills in the Nelson area.

Nelson Bays farmer Tom Sturgess said the snow had dropped to low levels near his farm, in the main division near Quartz Range-Aorere.

He was in the middle of giving birth, but the cattle were doing as well as could be expected, he said.

A heavy snow warning above 300 meters was issued until 4 p.m. Tuesday for Southland south of Riversdale, Stewart Island and Clutha south of Clinton. A heavy snow warning for southern Fiordland was in effect until 1pm.

The snow was expected to drop to 200m, with a large amount of heavy snow above 500m, until 3pm for West Nelson, Buller and North Westland. Snow could also approach warning levels above 300m in Dunedin, northern Clutha, southern Central Otago and northern Southland as late as 5pm, MetService said.

The strongest wind for Tuesday is expected in Hawke’s Bay south of Hastings and the Tararua district, where gusts could reach 120 km / h in exposed locations.

Winds could also approach strong gales in Dunedin and Clutha until mid-afternoon, and in Buller and west Nelson until evening.

At Canterbury, SH7 was initially closed between the Hanmer Bypass and Springs Junction (Lewis Pass), but was reopened in the afternoon.

In Nelson / Marlborough, SH63 between Kawatiri and St Arnaud was previously closed to snow, but has since reopened. Drivers were advised to take extra care.

In Southland, SH94 was closed between Te Anau and Milford, SH93 was closed between Clinton and Mataura, and SH96 was closed between Ohai and Wreys Bush due to snow, as was SH87 between Middlemarch and Outram.

Waka Kotahi NZTA warned drivers heading south from Queenstown on Tuesday morning that chains were required on SH6 from Wye Creek to Kingston.

In Southland, chains were required on SH90 between Alexander and Raes Junction.

Christchurch fell to -1.5 degrees Celsius overnight, compared to the average of 4.5 ° C for this time of year, while Wānaka dropped to -2.7 ° C and Blenheim to 1.8 ° C.

Temperatures were expected to drop across the South Island on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, but warm temperatures would return later in the week, MetService forecaster Sonja Farmer said.

“It will be a big change in temperatures and weather conditions.”

She said the erratic weather conditions were being caused by a low pressure weather system below the South Island.

“The low in the south is drawing cold air from the Southern Ocean and then sweeping across the country. There are many fronts that bring rain, wind and cold air. “

Cardrona ski field general manager Bridget Legnasky said about 40cm of fresh snow fell on the field near Wānaka on Monday and there might be more.

Remarkables ski area manager Ross Lawrence said about 20 inches of new snow fell on the field in 36 hours, and he expected more.

Coronet Peak season pass holders will enjoy one last blast on the mountain for a couple of “powder snow hours.”

The ski field officially closed on Sunday, but a huge spring snow dump encouraged management to open from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Only the Coronet Express chairlift would open and there would be no toilet, no cafes or buses, said communications manager Libby Baron.

“The snow this spring is too good to lose, so we decided to open … an opportunity for the locals to take those last few laps.”

Canterbury’s Mt Hutt Ski Area Manager James McKenzie said the mountain had had about 4 inches of fresh snow on Monday.

The elevator operator on the ski slopes of Mount Ruapehu said the forecast of 10-15cm snow for the next few days was “great news.”