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Snow could fall to low levels on the South Island, while strong gales hit the North as what is described as a “weather bomb” hits the country this week.
The “weather bomb” or “bomb cyclone” occurs when low pressure strengthens at a rate of 24 hectopascals (hPa) in 24 hours, according to NIWA. Hectopascals is the unit used to measure the range of naturally occurring air pressures in the atmosphere.
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Heavy snowfall could affect parts of Southland and Fiordland until 11 p.m. Monday, according to a severe weather advisory issued by MetService.
A heavy snow alert, valid until 10pm Monday, was issued for Dunedin, Clutha and Central Otago south of Alexandra, while an additional alert for Nelson west of Motueka, Buller and Westland north of Arthur’s Pass was valid until 5 pm on Tuesday.
ALISON METHERELL / SUPPLIED
A dusting of snow in the Queenstown suburb of Fernhill on Monday morning.
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Snow was also collected to fall on Desert Road on the North Island, MetService said.
The South Island could expect to feel cooler temperatures Monday morning, while colder days for the North Island were expected on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A major alpine pass, linking Canterbury to the west coast, was closed Monday morning due to snow.
An NZTA spokeswoman said Lewis Pass (State Highway 7) was closed due to snow shortly after 6:30 a.m. M.
Motorists must use SH1 when traveling from Canterbury to Tasman and Marlborough. Those who want to travel to the west coast should use Arthur’s Pass (SH73) but chains were essential.
METSERVICE
MetService’s highest observed wind gusts on Sunday.
An update on the state of the road was expected at 10 am.
It was a cold start for most of the southern hubs on Monday. Christchurch was 4.5C at 7am, Ashburton was 3.9C, Timaru was 0.5C, Dunedin was 5.1C, Queenstown was 2.4C, Wānaka was 2.5C, and Invercargill was 1C.
Snow had fallen around Queenstown overnight but had not settled in low-lying areas due to the warm ground temperature, according to a report from the Queenstown Lakes District Council.
The Crown Range between Queenstown and Wānaka had been plowed and reopened after an overnight closure.
However, another 10 centimeters of snow was expected on the road during the day, so all cars had to carry chains.
Alison Metherell / Supplied
Snow has covered parts of Queenstown on Monday morning.
Chains must also be carried on SH6 between Haast and Makarora.
The Remarkables ski area was affected by about 12 inches of snow, and the snow continued to fall on Monday morning. The field was closed due to strong winds.
The Cardrona ski field near Wānaka was also closed due to the storm, while Coronet Peak closed for the season on Sunday.
Gusts of over 100km / h were felt on both the northern and southern islands as a stormy front swept across the country over the weekend.
Areas that withstood the brunt of the high winds included Fiordland with gusts of 155km / h.
Wellington also saw winds of up to 135km / h and gusts at Manukau Heads in Auckland reached 130km / h.
In Auckland, the Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency urged motorists to exercise caution when crossing the damaged Harbor Bridge on Monday and Tuesday as wind gusts of 80km / h were forecast.
The city experienced a comfortable high of 20 degrees Celsius on Sunday, but MetService forecaster Paul Ngamanu said Wednesday that the maximum would be just 14 degrees Celsius.
John Bisset / Stuff
Snow could fall to low levels on the South Island, MetService warned.
MetService meteorologist Karl Loots said Wellington and the Wairarapa region would be hit by northwesterly gales from noon Monday through late afternoon, and a period of heavy rain was also expected.
But there would be some relief from the wind on Tuesday compared to Monday, and the weather will improve on Wednesday and Thursday, he said.
People living in Hawke’s Bay would also be affected by wind gusts from the northwest, but the weather would be “predominantly good” with the possibility of some rain, he said.
In a statement, the Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office (WREMO) said large swells were expected for Wellington and Wairarapa on Monday.
Waves of up to 4 meters in height were expected Tuesday night, finally declining to 3.5m on Wednesday before declining further later in the week.
An alert for large swells was also set between Paekākāriki and Raumati South, as there was a forecast for northwesterly swells that would reach between 3 and 3.5 m in height, WREMO said.
The storm surge was expected to rise to 4.45m Monday afternoon before subsiding Monday night.
There were several reports of downed trees in the Wellington region overnight from Saturday to Sunday.
A Central Area Fire and Emergency spokesperson said it had received about 20 weather-related calls in Wellington on Sunday. There was no significant damage, but trees had fallen and some power lines were down, the spokesperson said.
A police spokeswoman said there had been damage to a sign for State Highway 1 near Paekākāriki.
Fire and Emergency spokesman Andrew Norris said crews had been called in for about 10 weather-related jobs across the South Island. He said they were all minor jobs and mostly related to loose roofs or damage to power lines.
Orion, the Christchurch power provider, reported five outages due to “trees / vegetation in the lines” on its website. All outages were fixed by 6.25pm
The end of the week seemed calmer, Ngamanu said, with the weather improving on Thursday.
