Ferry services remain suspended today with swells up to 8m predicted for Cook Strait this evening, but snowfall down south is easing.
Large waves are likely for Wellington's south coast, with swells in open water expected to reach 8m high. Photo: RNZ / Caitlin Cherry
NIWA predicted swells of 7m to 8m around 8pm in Cook Strait.
MetService said waves were expected to grow throughout the day, peaking at 7m in the evening, with high tide in Wellington at 8.45pm.
NIWA's high res model shows sea/swell (we call that sig wave in the biz) will peak btwn 7-8 m around 8 pm in Cook Strait @interislander pic.twitter.com/K6IAVnjfp6
— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) June 13, 2017
Messy whitewater off of Wellington at the moment, expect size to increase through the day. Image https://t.co/5sk8HBSHtE ^TA pic.twitter.com/j92MRUi0NC
— MetService (@MetService) June 13, 2017
Note this is wave height in open water, waves will not be as big at the shore. But still watch out on the south coast. ^TA
— MetService (@MetService) June 13, 2017
Ferry services were cancelled for today, with the next Interislander passenger sailings resuming at 6.30am tomorrow, and Bluebridge at midday.
State Highway 87 between Outram and Kyeburn and SH94 between Hollyford Valley Road and Gulliver River Bridge, which both had closed overnight, reopened after snowfall overnight eased this morning.
SH94 Milford Sound road had been cleared of snow, but was still affected by ice, and motorists were also warned of snowy conditions on SH85 between Alexandra and Ranfurly.
Snow on SH94 near Milford Sound was cleared from the road, as seen in this image from the NZTA camera at Homer Tunnel. Photo: NZTA
MetService lifted all its road snowfall warnings, and said although The Remarkables skifield had 25-30cm in the last 24 hours, most of the snowfall for the area was dumped in the southern lakes.
Gusts were expected up to 120km/h in coastal Clutha and Dunedin until late morning, and Banks Peninsula and the Port Hills until mid-afternoon.
Previous gust warnings for Wairarapa, Hawke's Bay, Nelson and parts of Southland were lifted.
