Awesome big frosty mornings

Isn't there something awesome about big frosty mornings and clear blue skies. For some places, like Auckland, it's rare. For many other New Zealand regions it's very much part of the winter weather.

Yesterday's minus 4.3 in Hamilton was certainly a doozey and there were other regions like Waiouru that dropped to minus 6 and colder. Winter certainly arrived a few weeks early this year but it's good news for ski fields. After the recent snow dumps the cold nights are helping prevent snow melt.

As a former Bay of Plenty and Waikato boy now living in Auckland I miss the sight of a good severe frost. Even when Auckland does get one you can't see it stretching for miles...instead the glimpse of the white stuff is usually reserved to front lawns, roof tops and the sides of the roads. I miss those big rural frosts. The areas are built for them. In Auckland all my lame tropical plants turn black within hours of frost number 1. It's like northern New Zealand plants are the "townie" variety...and unlike their tougher "rural' buddies they freak out at the first sight of mother nature. Even relatively mild winds seem to knock trees down here, whereas other parts of New Zealand see gusts over 140km/h and hardly a branch comes off.

But I do love this weather...it's a little demanding on the old wood supply and power bills...but hey, I'd rather buy a few less treats at the supermarket and instead put that money into my heating bill to ensure a nice warm home. It's healthier too. Today and tomorrow see more sunny, frosty, weather but not tomorrow in the south - that's the start of another bitterly cold southerly on the way.

A friend of my mine at Classic Hits who's name will remain confidential...lets just call him Colin N.....no, that's too obvious...how about C. Nicholls....well he sent me an angry email the other day explicitly saying "Phil, it's winter...we're in 3 months of a cold snap....now stop making something out of nothing, stop breaking this 3 month cold snap in to lots of little ones!!!". My reply to him is one I doubt the Herald would let me publish. It's true what they say about winter making people grumpier and more depressed though. Colin - surely the two lovely, sunny, warm, days in Auckland are enough to say that's the end of the Queens Birthday cold snap?!

This next southerly looks likely to bring rain, sleet and snow to Southland and Otago on Friday and possibly early Saturday. The cold change will then sweep up the South Island's east coast and into Wellington on Saturday and Sunday.

So are we in for a repeat of last weekend's wintry blast? Well - yes and no. No, it won't be as severe. Yes, it could be as cold. Daytime highs in parts of Otago look set to only reach 3 or 4 degrees on Saturday with highs of 6 and 7 for places like Invercargill, Dunedin and up to Christchurch on Saturday. In Wellington a cold southerly, near gale force, will mean Sunday's high of 7 will feel more like 1 or 2 at times.

If you live in Wellington some of you might be getting sick of these southerlies - this will be the 3rd strong southerly in a matter of weeks.

The moisture levels with this next system don't appear to be very high from Canterbury northwards. While Southland and Otago look likely to have wetter weather than they did over Queens birthday weekend the other regions, like Christchurch, Wellington and Hawkes Bay, currently look drier.

Just like last weekend we have a large high in the west which may push the most severe weather out to the east (sorry Chathams). So again western parts of the country are likely to see some stunning, sunny, weather. I'm starting to wonder if all the bad press about the South Island's west coast being a wet and gloomy place to live is just a publicity stunt by eastern cities to get more tourist money. The east coast of the South Island has certainly had more than its fair share of cold snaps this year, while the west coast has enjoyed many sunny weekends. Mind you - lets not forget the 2 systems that brought half a metre of rain each to the west coast.

So, when's the rain returning? Well it may not be too far off. Early next week a depression in the Tasman Sea looks increasingly likely to bring rain into western regions with northerlies or north easterlies for many places. It may not be overly warm though... but will certainly be a change from the bitterly cold southerlies of late.

Philip Duncan

Pictured above: Frost in Hastings. Photo / Hawkes Bay Today