Christchurch’s first snowfall in October for 53 years

Christchurch experienced its first October snowfall in more than 50 years when a polar explosion swept across New Zealand, leaving spring temperatures freezing.

Snow flurries have been reported further north in Wellington, affecting Remutaka Hill Rd and dust has even been reported in the suburb of Kilbirnie at sea level.

The Desert Rd in central North Island is closed, one of a number of state highways and other roads affected by freezing temperatures and snow.

Arctic bark is causing unusual single-digit temperatures today in the South Island and North Island, including Auckland, where temperatures in some parts of the city were as low as 9°C at 7am. The city is forecast to have showers and high winds in places today with a maximum of 13C.

The coldest spot in the country early this morning was Te Ānau, where it was a goddamn -5.1C.

Christchurch residents have woken up to a wintry wonderland – cars and gardens covered in the white stuff – although not enough to be fully settled on the roads.

Shane Neal, a Christchurch resident in Edgeware, said this was only the second time he’d seen snow since moving from the North Island.

He woke up early this morning to find his cars and the deck covered in snow, he said it looks beautiful but the conditions “need some adjustment”.

“When I took the dogs outside in the morning, I realized that the deck was like an ice rink,” he said.

“It’s about adjusting your speed while driving your car, walking around outside — it’s so much smoother.”

Neal and a friend had returned from a trip over Burkes Pass last night, he was grateful that the roads remained open to complete his journey.

“Yesterday you didn’t see a blade of green grass. It was a nerve-wracking ride in snow storms, but absolutely beautiful.”

MetService has confirmed it is snow – having previously said it should check if it was snow or graupel, a soft hail.

It is the first time Christchurch has seen October snow since October 10, 1969. At 6:30 a.m., the temperature was officially 1.2C in the Garden City, but the MetService reported it felt more like -4C outside.

Snow is still falling in Goughs Bay
A resident of Goughs Bay, one of Christchurch’s easternmost bays, said snow continued to fall “quite hard” this morning.

Sandie Stewart lives with her family on a cattle ranch on the Banks Peninsula, she said the snowfall was “a magical sight”, with an inch of snow surrounding the property.

The country hasn’t seen snow in decades, she said.

“I like the snow. We don’t have snow gear for the kids, so maybe we’ll grab some cardboard boxes and go sledding through the hills.”

Living on a cattle ranch comes with its own challenges during snowfall, according to Stewart. The wet soil makes it tricky to climb hills to reach livestock – but Stewart is thankful he doesn’t have baby lambs about to be born, unlike other farmers she knows.

“At the moment there are still a few farmers lambing, which would be terrible for them in the cold right now.”

A cold start for many
Forecasters issued earlier warnings on Wednesday, saying almost the entire South Island would be hit by bitter cold winds and snow. Freezing temperatures are also moving north, with Wainuiomata Hill Rd in Wellington closed by ice for a short time tonight.

Snow was expected on the South Island from yesterday around 6 a.m. to today, with showers reaching sea level in places.

There is a forecast maximum temperature of 10C in Christchurch today, but this is expected to drop again to an overnight low of 1C.

Dunedin’s temperature was 0.9C at the beginning, while outside it felt like -3C, MetService said.

A high of 8C and an overnight low of 5C are at stake in Dunedin. Snow showers are expected this afternoon, turning into rain showers below 400 meters. A strong south-westerly wind is also forecast for the city with gusts of up to 90 km/h along the coast.

The snow closed off State Highway 87 northwest of Dunedin early last night. State Highway 1, the northern highway from Dunedin, was also closed late last night.

Between 8 p.m. yesterday and 6 p.m. today, between 6 and 10 cm of snow would fall on the highway.

MetService meteorologist Angus Hines said the snowfall matched what had been forecast.

With such a cold atmosphere, there was a “really good chance” that some roads would be closed overnight and today due to snow.

The bad weather would hit areas at higher elevations more, such as Central Otago, but no region was expected to be hit worse than others.

The snow had the potential to settle, with the two biggest factors being the amount of snowfall and the temperature of the ground.

– NZ Herald, ODT, RNZ, Star News