Snow brings icy bite to spring
Snow fell in parts of northern Southland yesterday.
Metservice issued a severe weather watch for inland Southland, saying snow was expected to lower to 300 to 600 metres in some areas.
The NZ Transport Agency said State Highway 94 Te Anau to Milford Sound was closed most of yesterday because of snow.
Snow showers were expected to affect the Crown Range Rd yesterday afternoon.
A Five Rivers Cafe staff member said snow was falling in the area and there had been plenty of people stopping in for lunch but it didn’t appear the snow was holding anyone up.
About 5am yesterday, there was a strong line of rain over Stewart Island, Metservice meteorologist Matthew Ford said.
‘‘That’s probably where the main front is at the moment.’’
At the southern end of the island, storm northwesterlies had switched to almost-gale southerlies.
‘‘That front is over Stewart Island at the moment. That’s going to make its way over the South Island,’’ he said yesterday.
In the east it was expected to reach Marlborough by midnight, while in the west it was a bit more complicated but rain was expected to spread north.
‘‘Particularly in the east, with winds turning southerly, it gets very cold in the south. With all that rain falling, we’re forecasting it turning to snow at relatively low levels over southern parts of the South Island . . .
‘‘There’s quite a good south southwest fetch that’s bringing up cold air from the Southern Ocean. Really for the rest of the week, it stays pretty cold and southerly.’’
He said another front was expected tomorrow, bringing cold air to the south and rain to ‘‘lots of places’’.
Metservice is forecasting snow lowering to 600m over the central North Island tomorrow, with southerly gales about the centre of the country.