After Dunedin and parts of Christchurch woke up to snow this morning, 1News weather expert Dan Corbett warns of even colder weather to come over the next few days.
The cold has hit and will continue over the next several mornings, with nowhere in the country likely to be spared.
The colder airmass from way down in the Southern Ocean, near Antarctica, has already moved up across the South Island. Wintry showers have fallen to sea level down over Dunedin and south Otago.
Read more: 'Avoid travelling': Dunedin snow closes schools and state highways
This will spread all the way up to Auckland by this evening.
En route, Wellington could get hit with wintry showers, especially Remutaka Rd, this afternoon and evening as the upper trough axis moves across.
In terms of what’s already had an impact, last night it dropped down to -6C at Mt Cook and -3C for the Desert Road on the North Island’s central plateau.
But that’s not the coldest night we’re going to see.
How is that? Well - Jack Frost and his frost machine and, oh, radiational cooling.
The warmth of the day will radiate upwards, into space on clearer light wind nights. We will get those as the high moves over the country over the next several days.
The lightest winds, and so the coldest conditions, tend to occur close to the ridge axis - an imaginary black line that runs through the middle of the high bubble.
Tonight, the coldest spot could be in the Mackenzie Basin at somewhere between -10C and -13C. And possibly Thursday morning too, when it won’t get past -11 to -12C.
The cold axis moves up to Marlborough on Thursday morning and then onto the North Island on Friday.
The coldest starts will be for Waikato and Auckland on Friday morning when it’ll likely be in the 0C to -4C range.
Wrap up warm for the next few days.
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including a cold snap closes roads, mothers plead for help to save stranded sons, and Ariana Grande’s big decision. (Source: 1News)
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