Snow is falling in parts of the South Island and more is to come as a polar blast sweeps the country with rain and thunderstorms.
The cold air mass is bringing rain to the North Island, with heavy falls forecast for Auckland throughout Friday.
MetService is calling this the “coldest weekend of the year so far”.
With temperatures plummeting to below zero in places, MetService road snowfall warnings in Canterbury were set to last until 9pm today.
Daily maximum temperatures around Canterbury, Otago and Southland were expected to stay under 15C - about six degrees below the average for this time of year, MetService said.
Road snowfall warnings were in place for Porters Pass and Arthur’s Pass on State Highway 73, from 1pm to 9pm today.
An Herald reader in Otago said it began snowing in St Bathans, a small, former gold mining town about 70km from Alexandra, about 10.20am.
The snow was “rapidly” settling, he said.
The man gave an update at 4pm, saying the town looked “absolutely stunning, just beautiful” as the snow thickened.
Video footage shows the isolated town’s road slick with snow as flurries continued to fall.
“It’s pretty impressive. The fire’s cranking [in the Vulcan Hotel] and people are just drinking port, beer and coffee. The tourists are stoked,” the man said.
“This morning, it got quite cold with a wee southerly blowing through. Then there was a bit of rain and suddenly it just started snowing.
“[These are] the biggest snowflakes people had seen. It’s dead quiet, and big, puffy snowflakes are falling. It’s completely unexpected because it wasn’t on the forecast.”
Saturday would get even colder, MetService meteorologist Clare O’Connor said.
“Clear skies following the passage of the cooler air will mean no clouds to bring an insulating effect”, O’Connor said.
In the lower North Island, meanwhile, there was a risk of thunderstorms this evening, along with gusts up to 90km/h, heavy rain and hailstorms.
Auckland’s forecast was for periods of rain, easing to a few showers by late evening.
Wellington could bear the brunt of thunderstorms this evening, a stark change from sunny conditions seen in the morning.
Canterbury’s High Country and northern areas of the plains could also be hit by thunderstorms, as well as Marlborough and southern Wairarapa.
The thunderstorms are created by unstable southwesterlies driving the rest of the cold weather.
Auckland’s weekend should see fine conditions with a few morning showers on Saturday, and partly cloudy skies with showers clearing on Sunday. The following week could be dominated by partly cloudy conditions.
Wellington’s weekend should be mainly fine, while sunny conditions would only last in Christchurch through Saturday.
The Garden City could see a few showers develop on Sunday afternoon, while Dunedin had showers forecast for both days.
MetService said crisp mornings were “no doubt” on the way with the autumn equinox happening next week.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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