Freezing start in inland south, lower North Island, days of rain coming for north

Wednesday, 5 July 2017

Snow blankets Mt Cook after the wintry blast of recent days. The temperature dropped below -8C early on Wednesday at Mt Cook Airport.

Temperatures dropped well below freezing in some inland parts of the South Island, and some parts of the lower North Island overnight.

Between 4am and 5am on Wednesday, MetService recorded minus 8.2 degrees Celsius at Mt Cook Airport, -5.3C at Tekapo, -4C at Pukaki Airport, and -3.2C in Alexandra. Further north Masterton dropped to -3.4C, the Desert Road dropped to -3.5C, Trentham in Upper Hutt to -2.3C, Porirua to -0.1C, and Martinborough to -1C.

'We had cold air spreading over the country yesterday and behind it we had a narrow ridge, specially over the South Island, that cleared up the cloud and the wind died down,' MetService meteorologist Michael Martens said.

Temperatures dropped particularly in areas with snow cover, which was the case at Mt Cook Village. Masterton was in a valley surrounded by hills. 'If the wind dies off they can cool down quite a lot.'

Parts of the South Island would still be affected by that ridge on Wednesday and Thursday. 'Inland parts of the South Island can expect another cold night . . . possibly the southern North Island again as well,' Martens said.

Further north it's warmer but days of rain are in the forecast for the northern half of the North Island.

The rain is expected to arrive in Auckland on Wednesday evening and to continue right through to the end of the weekend.

During the day on Wednesday, Auckland is expected to have occasional showers, with a high of 15C. Wellington is forecast to have fine spells, with a few evening showers, southerlies and a high of just 11C.

Christchurch could have early frosts, then a fine day until cloud increases in the evening with a few showers, and a 10C high.

After the snow in the deep south on Tuesday, Invercargill is expected to have a mainly fine Wednesday with a high of 9C, but it could get cold overnight with MetService predicting a low of -4C.

Dunedin, which only got to about 7C on Tuesday, is headed for 9C and should be mainly fine.

Queenstown is expected to get to only 7C on Wednesday but should be fine, although there is a chance of morning fog. Like Invercargill, it could drop to -4C overnight.

The first two weeks of July are typically the coldest fortnight of the year, and this time around MetService expects it will be even colder than usual.

'All indications are that most of New Zealand will see below average temperatures,' MetService meteorologist Georgina Griffiths said.

The start of July was expected to be drier than usual in the west of the South Island, and from Wellington to Whanganui.

The March-June period had been unusually dry in the lower South Island, due to recurring highs sitting at southern latitudes, Griffiths said. The four months were the driest in Milford Sound since records began in 1929 , with just 47 per cent of normal rainfall. In Mt Cook, the four months were the third driest since 1928.