Snow and wild winds hit South Island

While wild winds and rain kept Canterbury residents awake last night, others woke to snow.

Falls have been reported in rural Ashburton, Central Otago and on some higher Fiordland peaks.

Mt Hutt Ski Area marketing manager James Urquhart said about five to 10 centimetres of snow had fallen overnight.

"It's crazy,'' he said.

"It roared through Methven last night. This morning, all the mountains are just white.''

While it was not unusual for snow to fall in January, Urquhart said this was the deepest he had seen for some time.

MetService spokesman Daniel Corbett said the snow was a ''short, sharp cold blast''.

"We've had a rollercoaster ride of summer,'' he said.

The snow was caused by two intense and contrasting fronts of air pushing over the South Island; one warmer front from the north Tasman sea and one colder one from deep in the Southern Ocean.

MetService meteorologist Mark Pascoe said two overnight periods of strong winds were "relatively short-lived" in Christchurch as northwest gales blasted through much of central New Zealand.

At Sugarloaf in the Port Hills, northwesterlies up to 113kmh were recorded last night, and southerly winds got up to 109kmh about 2am.

On the Kaikoura coast, southerlies reached 111kmh about 4am, Pascoe said.

Castlepoint, on the Wairarapa coast, had the strongest overnight wind gusts of up to 159kmh.

There have been no reports of major trouble.

Corbett said summer's high sun angle would see changes today.

"The high sun angle can work on the colder parts of the air, warming it through.''

The weekend would see a return of warmer temperatures, he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News