Low snow as blast hits
Snow fell to sea level in many parts of the South Island as an Antarctic blast moved its way up the country this morning.
A front that moved quickly over New Zealand was the start of the cooling, and brought the initial snowfalls overnight, MetService lead meteorologist Mark Todd said. ‘‘Coming in behind that front we have now got all of these showers with a very cold southerly flow basically coming straight off Antarctica.’’
Police in Dunedin warned motorists this morning of widespread snow, saying road travel should be avoided where possible.
Snow was falling in the city and roads in the hill suburbs were particularly affected, with crashes being reported.
Snowfalls coated the ground in Otago, Central Otago, as well as parts of Canterbury.
Further north, icy conditions on the Lewis Pas saw 30 trucks parked at Springs Junction.
The coldest air swept across the lower South Island from around 5am. The front was expected to make its way northward over the rest of the South Island through the day, bringing extensive snow showers down to low levels.
‘‘In this southerly airstream there are widespread showers. The air mass is cold enough to bring snow down to low levels ... The heavier the showers are the lower the snow can go before it melts,’’ Todd said. With the heavier showers snow could get as low as maybe 100 – 200m.
‘‘This is a significant cold outbreak and there will be widespread snow to low levels over much of the South Island as a result of persistent showers coming through from the south today and into tomorrow,’’ Todd said.
Significant snow accumulations were possible in some areas of Fiordland, Otago, Southland, Canterbury and southern Marlborough.
The cold air was also invading the lower and central North Island this morning.
There was a risk of significant snow accumulations down to 500 metres in the Taihape area, which included the Desert Road, and in the ranges of Hawke’s Bay, which included the Napier-Taupo Road. State Highway 2 over the Rimutaka Hill was also expected to see settled snow.
An area likely to find itself in the firing line today and tomorrow was the Kaikoura Ranges.
The exact details of what could happen were still uncertain but a low expected to develop off the east of the North Island could cause gales in some areas.