Weather: Big chill sweeps the country, temperatures drop as low as -6.4C
Brittney Deguara and Rachael Comer11:28, Apr 28 2021
MetService National Forecast: April 27 - 30
MetService meteorologist Angus Hines explains the weather forecast for the last few days of April.
George Empson/Stuff
Steam rises off Lake Takapō/Tekapo on Wednesday morning, following a cold start to the day.
George Empson joked he will have to invest in a pair of heated gloves, as much of the country woke to a frosty morning.
The Lake Takapō/ Tekapo photographer was up early on Wednesday to capture the frosty start to the day as the Mackenzie Basin dropped below freezing and reached -5.1 degrees Celsius. Nearby Twizel was the coldest place in the country with an overnight low of -6.4C recorded at MetService’s weather station around 2km from the town.
“It’s probably pretty frosty there right now,” meteorologist Tui McInnes said.
Send your snaps and videos of the cold, frosty morning at your place to [email protected].
READ MORE:
* New Taranaki civil defence boss keen to ensure community ready to respond
* Ducks and seagulls habitual offenders in freshwater quality tests
* Motorcyclists break in 'gnarly' Marlborough track at second round of Enduro Champs
* Dispute over $50 leads to 'absolutley senseless' brawl
This is the coldest Twizel has been this year, rivalled only by a -3.5C day at the start of April. Wednesday’s low was also significantly below the 2.6C average for this time of year, but conditions are known to fluctuate in that area, McInnes said.
“Minus 6C is on the cold side of things [but] it wouldn’t really raise eyebrows ... [it’s not] particularly unusual.”
George Empson/Stuff
Lake Takapō/Tekapo’s Church of the Good Shepherd on Wednesday morning, with steam rising off the lake in the background. The Mackenzie region recorded some of the coldest overnight temperatures in the country on Wednesday.
Empson, who is often out early to capture stunning images, told Stuff he needed to invest in a pair of motorbike-heated gloves.
“The thumb and forefinger goes white and hard at times and stays number for some time until I get back by the fire, but love every minute,’’ Empson said.
He said it was “just fantastic’’ to see the first light on such mornings.
“It will be even better if there was snow down lower.’’
Other places with freezing temperatures were Lauder which dropped to -2.7C, Ranfurly to -3.1C, Alexandra to -2.3C and Mount Cook Village dropped to -1.9C.
George Empson/Stuff
Photographer George Empson said it was “just fantastic’’ to see the first light on such mornings.
The lowest overnight temperatures were recorded between 4am and 6am.
Conditions were a little warmer in the North Island, MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan said.
“Masterton is probably hitting its lowest temperature right at the moment,” Corrigan said just after 6am.
Masterton, which has a forecast low of 1C, dropped to 2.7C, but a weather station near Waiouru recorded colder conditions of -0.7C. This was the only negative temperature recorded in the North Island.
McInnes said most towns in the Central Plateau would have been “pretty nippy” on Wednesday. The town of Waiouru itself reached 1C.
In the main city centres, Wellington has a high of 14C for Wednesday and was 1.1C below its 9C forecast low of about 6.30am. In Auckland, a low of 10C and 18C is forecast, while Christchurch is expected to drop to 3C and reach a high of 15C. At the time of publication, the temperature in Christchurch was -0.9C, but it felt like -3C.
Show us the weather at your place
Rain, wind, blue skies, or clouds? Show us what the weather looks like at your place today.
Contribute
McInnes said, to public perception, it was probably one of the colder mornings of the year, but it was hard to compare data for all parts of the country. He said, however, that Wednesday’s conditions were “nothing out of the ordinary”.
“A lot of people would’ve woken up this morning saying ‘it’s cold’.
“[It] starts to remind us that the colder temperatures are well on the way.”
Frost has been widespread in the South Island on Wednesday morning in the Canterbury region down to the Lakes District. Parts of the North Island have also experienced frost, but that is more localised and reserved for the Wairarapa and Central Plateau regions.
Corrigan said there had been no reports of snow.
“This is typical for this time of year, and the winds coming from the south and from the south-west are bringing up cooler air from the Southern Ocean and that cooler air is moving over us.”
Clear skies overnight made perfect conditions for cooler overnight temperatures, Corrigan explained.
The cold sweep is expected to last until Thursday, but it won’t be “as cold and frosty” as it was this morning.
“As the ridge of high pressure moves on, those temperatures will warm up going into Friday and into the weekend.”
Brittney Deguara and Rachael Comer11:28, Apr 28 2021
MetService National Forecast: April 27 - 30
MetService meteorologist Angus Hines explains the weather forecast for the last few days of April.
George Empson/Stuff
Steam rises off Lake Takapō/Tekapo on Wednesday morning, following a cold start to the day.
George Empson joked he will have to invest in a pair of heated gloves, as much of the country woke to a frosty morning.
The Lake Takapō/ Tekapo photographer was up early on Wednesday to capture the frosty start to the day as the Mackenzie Basin dropped below freezing and reached -5.1 degrees Celsius. Nearby Twizel was the coldest place in the country with an overnight low of -6.4C recorded at MetService’s weather station around 2km from the town.
“It’s probably pretty frosty there right now,” meteorologist Tui McInnes said.
Send your snaps and videos of the cold, frosty morning at your place to [email protected].
READ MORE:
* New Taranaki civil defence boss keen to ensure community ready to respond
* Ducks and seagulls habitual offenders in freshwater quality tests
* Motorcyclists break in 'gnarly' Marlborough track at second round of Enduro Champs
* Dispute over $50 leads to 'absolutley senseless' brawl
This is the coldest Twizel has been this year, rivalled only by a -3.5C day at the start of April. Wednesday’s low was also significantly below the 2.6C average for this time of year, but conditions are known to fluctuate in that area, McInnes said.
“Minus 6C is on the cold side of things [but] it wouldn’t really raise eyebrows ... [it’s not] particularly unusual.”
George Empson/Stuff
Lake Takapō/Tekapo’s Church of the Good Shepherd on Wednesday morning, with steam rising off the lake in the background. The Mackenzie region recorded some of the coldest overnight temperatures in the country on Wednesday.
Empson, who is often out early to capture stunning images, told Stuff he needed to invest in a pair of motorbike-heated gloves.
“The thumb and forefinger goes white and hard at times and stays number for some time until I get back by the fire, but love every minute,’’ Empson said.
He said it was “just fantastic’’ to see the first light on such mornings.
“It will be even better if there was snow down lower.’’
Other places with freezing temperatures were Lauder which dropped to -2.7C, Ranfurly to -3.1C, Alexandra to -2.3C and Mount Cook Village dropped to -1.9C.
George Empson/Stuff
Photographer George Empson said it was “just fantastic’’ to see the first light on such mornings.
The lowest overnight temperatures were recorded between 4am and 6am.
Conditions were a little warmer in the North Island, MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan said.
“Masterton is probably hitting its lowest temperature right at the moment,” Corrigan said just after 6am.
Masterton, which has a forecast low of 1C, dropped to 2.7C, but a weather station near Waiouru recorded colder conditions of -0.7C. This was the only negative temperature recorded in the North Island.
McInnes said most towns in the Central Plateau would have been “pretty nippy” on Wednesday. The town of Waiouru itself reached 1C.
In the main city centres, Wellington has a high of 14C for Wednesday and was 1.1C below its 9C forecast low of about 6.30am. In Auckland, a low of 10C and 18C is forecast, while Christchurch is expected to drop to 3C and reach a high of 15C. At the time of publication, the temperature in Christchurch was -0.9C, but it felt like -3C.
Show us the weather at your place
Rain, wind, blue skies, or clouds? Show us what the weather looks like at your place today.
Contribute
McInnes said, to public perception, it was probably one of the colder mornings of the year, but it was hard to compare data for all parts of the country. He said, however, that Wednesday’s conditions were “nothing out of the ordinary”.
“A lot of people would’ve woken up this morning saying ‘it’s cold’.
“[It] starts to remind us that the colder temperatures are well on the way.”
Frost has been widespread in the South Island on Wednesday morning in the Canterbury region down to the Lakes District. Parts of the North Island have also experienced frost, but that is more localised and reserved for the Wairarapa and Central Plateau regions.
Corrigan said there had been no reports of snow.
“This is typical for this time of year, and the winds coming from the south and from the south-west are bringing up cooler air from the Southern Ocean and that cooler air is moving over us.”
Clear skies overnight made perfect conditions for cooler overnight temperatures, Corrigan explained.
The cold sweep is expected to last until Thursday, but it won’t be “as cold and frosty” as it was this morning.
“As the ridge of high pressure moves on, those temperatures will warm up going into Friday and into the weekend.”
