Temperatures drop below freezing, snow and hail on the North Island, the cold will continue

A cold snap has brought hail to Wellington and forced freezing temperatures in parts of the South Island.

Hail fell in central Wellington and the suburbs of Vogeltown and Mornington on Thursday afternoon as a cold front swept across the country.

Metservice meteorologist Tahlia Crabtree said there was little chance of hail in the capital as the front advanced from the south. The front also brought a light layer of snow to the desert and Napier to the roads of Taupō.

The front was moving out to sea in an easterly direction Thursday afternoon.

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Temperatures in the lower South Island fell well below freezing early Thursday, and snow is expected in the central North Island during the day, and cold conditions will continue through Saturday.

Manapouri fell to -4.6 degrees Celsius early Thursday, Lumsden to -3.2 ° C, Alexandra to -2.2 ° C, Queenstown to -2 ° C and Timaru to -1.8 ° C, said the meteorologist by MetService Angus Hines.

The coldest temperature recorded by MetService on the North Island early Thursday was 0.3 ° C in Waiouru, while many areas hovered around 2 ° C.

Hines said there were also reports of snow briefly as low as 300 meters in parts of Canterbury overnight. That follows flurries, hail and sleet in Southland and Otago on Wednesday.

“A moved south through the South Island and crossed the lower North Island yesterday and overnight. It brought a draft of cold air that got stuck during the morning hours, ”Hines said. There were also light winds and there was no cloudiness in the colder areas.

For Thursday, MetService is also forecasting snow at 800m in Hawke’s Bay.

Heavy rains are expected in the Wairoa district and Gisborne region on Thursday.

For many places outside of the lower South Island, early Friday morning would likely be the coldest time of the cold snap, as the conditions that brought cold temperatures to southern areas on Thursday morning carried over to to the north.

There would be a relative drop in the wind, some reasonably clear skies, and cooler weather conditions.

Paraparumu was expected to drop to 1 ° C early Friday compared to an average October low of 9 ° C, Masterton was expected to hit 1 ° C compared to an average of 6 ° C, and Taumarunui was expected to arrive at 0 ° C compared to 7 ° C.

MetService also forecasts that Timaru will hit -3C early Friday, Christchurch will drop to 1C and Blenheim and Nelson to 0C.

Friday night through Saturday would also be cool, with many places on the North Island having well-below-average lows similar to early Friday, Hines said.

“Another day of fairly clear skies, no big changes in atmospheric conditions, still some cold air over the North Island and some light winds.”

The lows forecast for early Saturday include 0C for Masterton, 2C for Hastings, 0C for Taumarunui, 1C for Taupō, 2C for Rotorua and 1C for Hamilton.

Auckland is expected to have good weather on Friday and Saturday, with lows of 7 ° C every morning and highs of 16 ° C.

Wellington is forecast to be dry through Friday with a morning low of 5 ° C and a high of 13 ° C, and to be mostly dry on Saturday with a low of 8 ° C and a high again of 13 ° C.

Christchurch is expected to drop to 1 ° C early on a mostly good Friday and then rise to 17 ° C. On Saturday there is a low forecast for the city of 6C, but a maximum of only 13C is expected with south winds and occasional rain .