Severe frosts for many as snow lets up

7th August 2016

Severe frosts for many as snow lets up

Heavy snow fell in inland Hawkes Bay, and eastern parts of Taihape and Taupo from Friday to Sunday morning. Snow drifts of around a metre affected some areas, closing the Napier-Taupo Road. This was caused by a low east of Gisborne, which directed a very cold southeast flow over New Zealand. The snow has now eased, but severe frosts will affect many parts of New Zealand over the next few days.

Clear and calm conditions over the South Island last night resulted in temperatures plummeting, with Dunedin Airport, Lumsden and Fairlie all reporting lows of -7 degrees Celsius this morning. “South Islanders can expect severe overnight frosts until late this week. Skies are also clearing over the central North Island today, so they will see some severe frosts tonight and tomorrow morning,” commented MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey. “Many roads will be very icy even though little further snow is expected,” added Glassey.

Although there will be calmer conditions for many places this week, rain or showers are expected to affect the upper North Island.

Official Severe Weather Watches and Warnings are reviewed and re-issued by MetService at least every twelve hours, and more often if necessary. To get the most up to date information on severe weather around the country, or any other forecasts, see metservice.com or on mobile devices at m.metservice.com. You can also follow our updates on MetService TV, at MetService New Zealand on Facebook, @metservice and @MetServiceWARN on Twitter and at blog.metservice.com

ENDS

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