Winter whips the North

Matt Watson gets pummelled by hail outside his Kerikeri studio yesterday. Photo / Daniel Galvin, Tightlines Media

A wintry blast hit the North yesterday delivering frosts, iced-up windscreens and hail in some areas.

Among those who copped the worst of the weather were extreme fisherman Matt Watson, who had just popped outside his studio near Kerikeri to check his boat about 12.30pm and got pummelled by hail.

Advocate readers also reported hail in Kamo, Glenbervie, Onerahi and Parua Bay. A reader in Maromaku, south of Kawakawa, said there was so much hail on the ground it looked like it had been snowing.

Many people across the Mid North woke up to frost on their lawns and a layer of ice on their car windscreens. Whangarei had patches of frost but nothing compared to the cold snap of July 10-13.

MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey said the coldest place in Northland yesterday was Kerikeri with 2.7C at 7am. Kaitaia was close behind with 2.8C while Whangarei was on 3.9C. The cold snap was caused by a southerly flow covering much of the country.

Temperatures in the upper atmosphere were as low as -20C, helping to create the hail that hit Kerikeri yesterday and Kaeo the day before.

The rain would be replaced by mostly sunny skies today, apart from a few showers in the west, though temperatures would remain low, Mr Glassey said.

Whangarei's predicted low of 6C this morning is forecast to rise to a relatively balmy overnight low of 11C by Thursday.