Weather: Interislander ferries cancelled as cold front brings snow, strong winds, rain

Monday, 27 March 2023

Sailings across Cook Strait on Wednesday afternoon have been cancelled as a cold front moves up the motu, expecting to bring heavy swells and southerly gale winds.

MetService released warnings and watches about the shift in the weather on Monday, with heavy snow, strong winds and chilly temperatures forecast.

South Canterbury was forecast to record the coldest temperatures of the year so far as it already experienced snowfall on Tuesday.

Interislander earlier warned passengers of possible cancellations with large swells forecast as rain already begun to cause some flooding in the capital.

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* Wet weather to continue, while parts of the South Island get snow

**

Heavy swell warnings were in place for Wellington’s south coast and Wairarapa from Wednesday.

Interislander said the 8.30pm Kaiarahi sailing departing Wellington on Tuesday was still scheduled to sail, but it advised people prone to seasickness to consider changing their travel plans with swells of up to 4m expected from 6pm.

However, it had made a decision to cancel four sailings on Wednesday afternoon and early Thursday morning when the swells were expected to reach its peak.

They are:

• 3:45pm Aratere sailing departing Wellington

• 8:35pm Aratere sailing departing Picton

• 8:30pm Kaiarahi sailing departing Wellington

• 2:30am Kaiarahi sailing departing Picton

There was a possibility Wednesday morning’s sailings could also still be affected.

All customers affected by the cancellation would receive an email and text. A refund could take up to three weeks depending on the payment method, it advised customers.

MetService warned of waves of up to 5 metres, combined with a southerly, from late Wednesday morning, rising to 7 metres on Thursday morning before easing to about 4 metres in the evening in Wellington.

Temperatures were expected to drop, with a high of 12 degrees Celsius and a low of 9C.

Meanwhile, in the Wairarapa, waves up to 6 metres were expected early on Wednesday evening, rising to 7 metres overnight and easing to 5 metres on Thursday evening.

Bluebridge said delays and cancellations from Wednesday were possible and would be closely monitoring the weather conditions.

A road snowfall warning was also issued for the Desert Rd, SH1, by MetService for between 1am and 8am on Wednesday. Snow flurries were possible above 1000 metres but 'little, if any, snow is expected to accumulate on the road', it said.

Meanwhile, in the South Island, motorists were urged to take care with snow falling through Burkes Pass on State Highway 8, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said.

MetService also issued snowfall warnings for Porters Pass (SH73), Lewis Pass (SH7) and Arthur's Pass (SH73).

Waka Kotahi manager Tresca Forrester said normal winter driving advice applied. “We are hopeful this snow may not last too long given its unseasonability.”

The front, which moved onto the lower South Island from the southwest overnight, was forecast to move north through central New Zealand on Tuesday, followed by a change to cold, gale southerlies.

Severe gales were expected for Banks Peninsula, coastal Marlborough and Wellington.

A watch for heavy rain was also projected for Southland, adding to the heavy rain watches in force for Fiordland and the ranges of southern Westland.

MetService said snow was expected to lower to 500 metres in Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago. Heavy snow is possible above 700 metres, and may approach warning amounts above this level.

“People are advised to keep up to date with the latest forecasts in case any changes are made, or further areas are added,” MetService said.