Santa fails to deliver beach weather
A pesky easterly wind and low-lying cloud dashed hopes for soaring Christmas Day temperatures in Christchurch.
After a buildup to the festive season with scorching weather and cloudless skies, low cloud sitting over the Pacific Ocean and a front moving up from the south meant yesterday was cooler than expected.
The city’s high was 22 degrees Celsius, with the hottest temperature in the region 26C in Darfield, 35 kilometres west of Christchurch.
The country’s high was 32C in Alexandra and Roxburgh.
Although the cooler-than- expected weather deterred many from the region’s beaches, Alexandra residents Julie and Will Nelson were not afraid to brave the waves at New Brighton.
Julie Nelson, who is holidaying with family in Avonhead, said spending Christmas at the beach was ‘‘really awesome’’.
She did not mind being ‘‘somewhere a bit cooler’’.
‘‘The water was warm – 17 degrees. I’ve never been in an ocean so warm, except for in Samoa,’’ Nelson said.‘‘It’s pretty good for the east coast.’’
The family was keeping up a Christmas tradition before carrying on to Kaikoura today.
‘‘We always try to get to the beach or to water at Christmas.’’
The warm weather is not expected to continue this week.
MetService meteorologist John Law said the front moving from the south was expected to bring cloud and rain today.
It should clear to ‘‘patchy drizzle’’ towards the end of the day.
Tomorrow was expected to be drier, but was still cloudy with a northeasterly wind.