Frost bites as mercury plummets
Perfect calm weather conditions have brought the chilliest morning of the year to many parts of the country.
Temperatures plummeted below zero in both the North and South Islands yesterday, leaving valleys coated in crunchy white.
Parts of the country experienced the first frosts of 2020 with Waiouru in the Central Plateau hitting -7.5 degrees Celsius and Dunedin recording -5.5C at
7am, according to MetService. Temperatures dropped below freezing across Waikato, making for the coldest night of the year so far.
Taumarunui hit -4.8C and most of the inner King Country was down to
-4C. In Hamilton, those who managed to wriggle out of bed were faced with a low of -1.5C at 8am.
This was a result of cold air coming up from the Central Plateau and spreading as the sun rose, MetService meteorologist Tui McInnes told
‘‘It was pretty cold everywhere and was quite likely to be the first frost for the North Island. A large portion of the country was down to zero degrees.’’
In Auckland temperatures were coldest in Ardmore at 0.9C but most parts of the city stayed above zero in the 4 to 7 degrees range, McInnes said.
New Plymouth recorded 2.6C at the airport but a few kilometres inland temperatures dropped, and in Palmerston North it was -1.6C.
‘‘It was possibly a bit colder than normal for that time of year.’’
The country had experienced a southerly push in the last few days, McInnes said. A combination of that cold air, no wind and clear skies resulted in a chilly day, he said.
‘‘For those really frosty conditions like you have today, you need that cold air but also still conditions.
‘‘As the southerly moved off, a high came and sat over the country – that’s cut off the wind completely. Going into overnight, its cooled down.
‘‘It’s the classic frost setup.’’ Looking ahead, McInnes said temperatures should warm, with Thursday not looking as chilly.
‘‘There are a few places – inland and more sheltered – that will again experience those negative temperatures but as we progress through the week the ridge moves away, bringing wind back and things start to warm up.’’
Temperatures were expected to be back into the mid to late teens by the end of the week with overnight lows in the high singles.