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Scoop
5 days ago
- Climate
- Scoop
A Frosty Start To The Week, But Rain Is On The Horizon
Covering period of Monday 16th - Thursday 19th June • Cold, clear nights bring widespread frosts for much of the country • Sunny days for most, foggy mornings for some • Showers linger in the north before clearing • Wet weather returns from the west on Thursday A stretch of settled winter weather kicks off the week for much of Aotearoa New Zealand, with widespread frosts expected for areas south of the central North Island. Crisp clear days, chilly nights and some foggy mornings will be the dominant theme. Christchurch is expected to reach lows of -3°C this week, Dunedin not much warmer at -2°C. Further north, Wellington could dip as low as 3°C, while Hamilton starts Wednesday at 1°C. Even Auckland is in for a brisk start, with temperatures forecast to drop to 6°C. 'People will really feel those frosty starts, particularly inland where we're expecting consistent cold temperatures,' says MetService meteorologist Devlin Lynden. 'With clear skies great for early Matariki viewing, much of the South Island is dipping well into the negatives in the mornings, lovely winter temperatures.' Daytime conditions will be mostly sunny. However, not all areas will be cloud-free. Patchy cloud and the odd shower linger around Northland and the eastern North and South Islands early in the week, as a light southeasterly flow carries moisture into those regions. Parts of the South Island can expect persistent fog and low cloud to form under these settled conditions, especially in valleys. 'Towns like Wanaka, Queenstown, and Alexandra, and those in the Mackenzie Basin may feel a bit grey and gloomy, unless you escape up to the ski fields where the sun will be out in full force' says Lynden. From midweek, a more active weather pattern moves in from the Tasman Sea. Rain is forecast to reach the West Coast of the South Island late Wednesday, before spreading into the western North Island through Thursday. 'After several days of calm, and mostly dry weather, that midweek shift will bring a noticeable change, especially in the west, where rain is likely to set in,' adds Lynden. 'There's potential for heavier falls and stronger winds in some areas on Thursday' Stay up to date at and check back this Wednesday for the Matariki long weekend outlook.
1News
09-06-2025
- Climate
- 1News
Thousands of lightning strikes in upper North Island
Parts of the upper North Island experienced "quite a bit of thunderstorm activity" overnight, with thousands of lightning strikes recorded. Shortly after 10.30pm, MetService issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Northland and Auckland from 11pm. This was lifted at 4am, but Aucklanders reported still hearing booming thunder and seeing lightning strikes into the early morning. MetService meteorologist Devlin Lynden told 1News there had been "quite a bit of thunderstorm activity overnight and early hours of this morning" in Auckland and Northland. He said there were approximately 2000 lightning strikes largely focused in the Kaipara Harbour area about 1am. ADVERTISEMENT A large lightning strike was captured on 1News weather cam at the Sky Tower this morning. (Source: 1News) "But then as we've had people waking up this morning around 6am or so, there's been another band further south which has been impacting the Auckland area and it's been trending past 3000 strikes. "At this point, there's probably been closer to about 4000 strikes since midnight," he said. NIWA reported that more than 5000 lightning strikes were observed over the upper North Island and adjacent waters from 12am to 7am Monday. The day ahead Lynden said lightning and thunder was still expected to continue "largely offshore Auckland". ADVERTISEMENT 'I think as the sun starts to rise and things settle down; it'll mostly move off. So in the next hour or so things should begin to clear up for you guys.' He said there had been some heavy showers this morning associated with the thunderstorms, which were expected to become isolated in the afternoon and clear to finer breaks toward the evening. Lynden said "for the rest of the country, it's much the same story". "After a very cold weekend and a bit of quite a bit of rain about the place easing this morning, with a bit more mild temperatures. He said it would not be "quite as cold as it has been over the weekend".
RNZ News
08-06-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
State Highway 8 and SH80 reopen after snow closure
The road winding east along SH8 toward Burkes Pass township in the South Island. Photo: Supplied / New Zealand Transport Agency Two sections of State Highway in the Mackenzie Country that were closed overnight - because of risk from snow and ice - have now reopened. State Highway 8 between Twizel and Fairlie and SH80 between Lake Pukaki and Aoraki/Mt Cook were closed on Saturday night as a safety precaution to both motorists and crews working on the roads. The New Zealand Transport Agency said the crews had been busy gritting and treating areas of ice on the roads. The road closures were lifted around 10am on Sunday. However, motorists are still advised to take care when travelling. A road snowfall warning is still in place for Porters Pass (SH73) and the Crown Range Road until Monday morning. MetService said warmer than average conditions over summer and the start of autumn had made this weekend's chilly blast all the more noticeable. Parts of the country awoke to their coldest morning of the year on Sunday with sub zero temperatures across the South Island as well as in Hamilton and parts of Wellington. Christchurch residents also reported the year's first dusting of snow on the Port Hills this morning. MetService Meteorologist Devlin Lynden said Mackenzie Basin dipped to a low of - 8°C while Wanaka and Queenstown recorded lows of - 5°C. He says - further north - the capital's weather station in Porirua recorded a low of - 1.3°C while Hamilton also touched freezing point reaching down to zero degrees. Auckland escaped with a comparatively mild 5°C while Whakatāne and Tauranga hovered at 2°C. Lynden said warmer than average conditions earlier in the year made Sunday morning's chilly blast all the more pronounced. "Through the start of summer and autumn we had lots of these northerly storm cycles - bringing quite a bit of moisture to the likes of Northland," Lynden said. "But with these storm cycles we also get quite warm conditions that's added to the shock value of this polar blast that we're experiencing right now." He said the cold temperatures were expected to linger into this week. "The next few days will still be quite chilly - perhaps a bit warmer than this morning - but as we look into the mid-week there will be some lifting of temperatures into lows of 10°C for some parts of the North Island. "But with that there will also be some rain unfortunately and cloudy conditions later on this week," Lynden said. He said snow forecast to fall as low as 400 metres on the mountain passes above the Canterbury Plains and Banks Peninsula could make driving treacherous in coming days. MetService has Road Snowfall Warnings in place for SH73, Porter's pass and the Crown Range Road into Monday morning. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
07-06-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
State Highway 8 and State Highway 80 reopen after snow closure
East along SH8 towards Burkes Pass township. Photo: Supplied / New Zealand Transport Agency Two sections of State Highway in the Mackenzie Country that were closed overnight - because of risk from snow and ice - have now reopened. State Highway 8 between Twizel and Fairlie and State Highway 80 between Lake Pukaki and Aoraki/Mt Cook were closed on Saturday night as a safety precaution to both motorists and crews working on the roads. The New Zealand Transport Agency said the crews had been busy gritting and treating areas of ice on the roads. The road closures were lifted around 10am on Sunday. However, motorists are still advised to take care when travelling. A road snowfall warning is still in place for Porters Pass (State Highway 73) and the Crown Range Road until Monday morning. MetService said the warmer than average weather over summer and the start of autumn have made Sunday morning's chilly blast all the more noticeable. Some of the country woke up to the coldest morning of the year, with sub-zero temperatures across the South Island as well as in Hamilton and parts of Wellington. Meteorologist Devlin Lynden said the Mackenzie Basin dipped to a low of -8 degrees while the capital's weather station in Porirua was less than -1 degrees. He said it will stay cold over the next couple of days but temperatures are expected to lift in the mid-week, accompanied by some rain and cloud. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
24-05-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
Severe weather warnings for NZ as heavy rain, strong wind approaches
MetService has issued 11 severe weather warnings across the country. Photo: Romolo Tavani / 123RF Heavy rain and strong winds are expected to hit the western coast later on Sunday as a front sweeps in from the Tasman Sea. MetService has issued 11 severe weather warnings across the country. "A front sweeps over southern and central New Zealand from the Tasman Sea during Sunday and Monday, bringing a period of heavy rain and strong north to northwest winds," the forecaster said. Orange heavy rain warnings have been issued for Buller, the Westland ranges, parts of Canterbury and parts of Otago from Sunday evening until Monday morning. In parts of Canterbury and Westland, rain could reach 200mm. Heavy rain watches have also been issued for Taranaki, parts of Tasman, Tararua Range and Grey District. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings. Photo: MetService MetService is warning drivers to be careful on Canterbury's High Country roads, with winds already reaching more than 100km/h. The region is under a strong wind watch for 12 hours from 6pm Sunday. Wellington and Marlborough have also been issued strong wind watches. Meteorologist Devlin Lynden said people on mountain roads need to take care as Mount Hutt is being battered with 120km winds. MetService said there was a moderate risk of thunderstorms in the Canterbury Alps, Fiordland and the Otago headwaters on Sunday. These thunderstorms will boost localised rainfall rates to 10-25mm/h, or possibly higher in a few places. A low risk of thunderstorms covers northern Westland, western parts of Southland, Stewart Island, the Queenstown Lakes District and the Mackenzie Basin from late evening as indicated on the chart. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
