Contradictory weather continues

Photo / Natalie Slade

A contradictory summer continues as snow falls over parts of the South Island and much of the North Island enjoys sunny spells.

MetService duty forecaster Mads Naeraa said a light dusting of snow had fallen on the hills around Lake Wanaka, and was reported on higher hills in Southland down to 800m.

"There has been snow in a lot of the lower South Island.

A low from the south coupled with vigorous showers caused an icy covering whitening hills overnight. He said roads were too hot for the snow to settle on to cause any potential havoc.

Snow in the middle of summer was not a total surprise, he said.

"It's not something that happens all the time but it does happen. It's New Zealand, and we're not far away from very cold air to the south. So every now and then you get little episodes like this."

While last summer recorded persistent highs, heatwaves and dry weather, this summer's La Nina influence has been a mixture of heavy rainfall, storms and lows.

Conditions were clearing and the sunny conditions seen by many Kiwis today were forecast to continue, said Mr Naeraa

The North Island and eastern areas of the South Island are due for a "quite hot and sunny week" and settled conditions for the foreseeable future, he said.

"We do have a high moving in from the West tomorrow. Things are looking less severe. It'll be largely settled weather on Monday and Tuesday."

He said winds whipping Wellington recently were due to settle by tomorrow.

Among the sunny forecast, a spell of rain for Fiordland and Westland was forecast on Thursday, along with some reasonably strong winds in the far south, he said.

He said the "moderate" La Nina cycle influencing weather across the country this summer would bring more spells of rain intermixed with bouts of sunny, humid days, he said.

"I don't think there's such a thing as over the worst of it. It's likely to be with us all summer, we are likely to see more lows coming down from the tropics. But as we've seen lately, you do get breaks in this type of weather pattern."