Freezing start to day for much of the country

Tuesday, 18 June 2019

Snow covers the slopes of Mt Taranaki early on Wednesday after overnight temperatures plummeted.

Freezing or near-freezing temperatures hit much of the country overnight, in one of the first major cold snaps of the year.

Figures from MetService show Pukaki dropping to -7 degrees Celsius by around 5am Wednesday. Among the larger centres, Dunedin dropped to -3.7C, Christchurch to -3.3C, and Taupō to -3C. Hamilton dropped to -1C for a short while around 4am before the breeze picked up a little and lifted the temperature.

Icy start at your place? Send your frosty photos to newstips@stuff.co.nz

'It's a frosty start for a lot of places,' MetService meteorologist Bill Singh said.

Tracy Boon is on the frontline for Salvation Army's Sydenham food bank, which she says is spreading itself thin heading into the colder months.

It was the coldest night of the year for Taupō, Tauranga and Taumarunui, MetService said, with Taumarunui's temperature plunging to -4C and Tauranga 1.9C.

* Coldest night of the year for wider Waikato

* Another chilly night across the country**

In central Auckland the temperature dropped below 5C, while in the region the mercury dropped to near-freezing, with MetService tweeting 'Inland parts of the region hovering close to an air frost (just below 1 degree at 7am), so there will be some decent frosts out there, and some ice on the wind screen. Take it easy for the commute, too'.

The warmest centre was Wellington where it dipped below 8C, while neighbouring Upper Hutt dropped close to freezing levels.

The cold snap looked like it would be short-lived, with a front expected to move southwards over the country.

Some rain was possible in the Far North from later on Wednesday morning, Singh said. It would spread southward toward Auckland by Thursday morning and would have affected the rest of the country by late Thursday.

'It's going to be wet and bring a wind change. We will have a more northerly wind over us. It's going to be a bit warmer,' Singh said.

'The humidity will increase as the warm front sinks over the country.'

For Wednesday, though, MetService expected most of the country to be fine. The exceptions were the Far North, the east from Gisborne to Wairarapa, and the west of the South Island - and even in those areas there was only a chance of a shower.

MetService meteorologist Melissa Oosterwijk said people were likely to notice the contrast in temperatures on Wednesday after a fairly mild autumn.

'In reality it's not much below average for June. It will more be the contrast.' Oosterwijk said.

'There's a southwesterly airflow passing over us, bringing colder air from Antarctica. Clear skies help the temperature drop too, because the heat radiates from the ground and theres no cloud cover.'

Snow was unlikely due to the lack of cloud cover.

Some other low temperatures early Wednesday included -6.4C at Mt Cook, -6.2C at Mt Hutt, Waiouru -5.4C, and Desert Road -3.5C.