MetService Auckland weather: October 8th. Video / Metservice
Spectators and sports stars alike will enjoy a fine weekend today, a cool and frosty morning being cleared by warmer northerly winds.
The sunshine is a welcome respite for many after snow, hail, thunderstorms and bitterly cold winds swept the country during a week MetService has called "one to remember".
The first three matches of the Women's Rugby World Cup should be played in fine conditions with some cloud at Eden Park today. Fans may, however, want to take umbrellas in case of an odd shower.
Christchurch is also putting on its finest weather, with a brisk frost giving way to clear skies for the cricket T20 tri-series match between the Blackcaps vs Pakistan in the idyllic Hagley Oval.
The second week of the school holidays should be partly cloudy nationwide, MetService forecasts. Much of the country could get rain over the last weekend of the holidays.
Yesterday was fine for most of the country, marking an end to a springtime surprise that brought snow as far north as Taupō on Thursday.
And while snow blanketed the South Island, Aucklanders had their own chilly start yesterday - one of the coldest October mornings since the 1960s.
The University of Otago, Dunedin in the snow after a week of thunderstorms, and hail across the country. Photo / James Burnett
Auckland Airport's weather station recorded 3.9C before 7am yesterday - making it the third equal coldest since 1966, MetService meteorologist Peter Little said.
"We've had the coldest October morning but it is getting back to normal."
Little said the wintry weather was due to strong southerly winds bringing air that originated over the Antarctic ice sheet.
"And often this very cold air would be pushed to the east of New Zealand by westerly winds between New Zealand and Antarctica," he explained.
"The cloud across the region is expected to clear this morning leaving a mostly sunny day. Light southwest winds are expected to die out this evening, a maximum temperature of 16C."
But as the frigid weather struck, a national grid emergency sparked a plea to the public to save power by not charging electronic devices and only heating the room they were in yesterday morning.
The warning came amid a fault affecting the Cook Strait cable that transfers power between the North and South Islands.
Transpower CEO Alison Andrew said staff had worked quickly to maintain system security during the grid emergency.
A farm in Banks Peninsula, Cantebury with a dusting of snow. Photo / Sandie Stewart
"Lines companies knew what was expected of them and they moved quickly to manage controllable load and reduce demand. No consumers were disconnected and the system stayed stable throughout."
Transpower said just before 8.30am that the fault was fixed and the cable had returned to "full operation".
