Cold spring southerly blasts New Zealand with hail, rain and snow

Wednesday, 23 October 2019

Another cold change is expected to race up the country on Thursday but it will not be as severe as Wednesday's bitter blast.

On Wednesday, parts of New Zealand exposed to the south and southwest had outbreaks of rain and hail, with snow to low levels.

The cold snap was predicted several days ago.

'It's not normal, but it's not unheard of, this does happen especially in spring,' MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said.

Despite the approach of summer, changeable weather is not unusual.

Hail fell in Wellington, Christchurch, and Auckland on Wednesday morning. Ferris said Wellington and Christchurch were both outside of the risk now, and thunderstorm charts were forecasting potential hail in the north later in the day.

Send your weather photos and videos to newstips@stuff.co.nz.

* Snow, hail, thunderstorms lash South Island

* North Island hit by heavy rain, gales, tumbling temperatures; snow risk for many passes**

Ferris said a small dump of 2cm to 5cm was expected and the heavy snow watch, initially issued for the Kaikōura Ranges, had since been lifted.

Early on Wednesday afternoon, MetService issued more road snow warnings for the South Island on Thursday, for Porters Pass, Lindis Pass, the Crown Range Rd and the Milford Rd.

Just a few more flurries were likely down to about 800 metres on the Desert Rd until about 4pm on Wednesday, MetService said.

Although the snowfall was reported only in the southern parts of the country, a 'cold burst' was being felt all around.

'With a cold southerly outbreak, these temperatures are going to be lower than normal.'

Wellington woke to a cold day on Wednesday and would continue to feel the chill for the next few days, with lows of 6 degrees Celsius and 8C forecast until Friday. Lows of 4C, 2C and 3C were also forecast for Christchurch.

Ferris said Tekapo took the prize for the coldest area on Wednesday, with an overnight low of -3.4C.

Severe gales were also forecast as the cold front moved north across the country. MetService recorded gusts of up to 130kmh in Wellington on Wednesday morning.

However, remaining strong winds in the north and east of the North Island are expected to ease later on Wednesday afternoon.

Another band of rain was forecast for the South Island on Wednesday night.

'We can expect another band of rain to move up the South Island … [It] arrives tonight and its through Thursday that people will another bout of showers.'

Ferris said while New Zealand was caught in the southwest flow, it would continue to experience, cold, wet and windy conditions.