Snow, Christchurch city could have a record-breaking season.

[Mark]

Snow is once again threatening Christchurch city and forecasters are saying this could be a record-breaking season.

Forecasts show a southerly change set to the sweep the region late Wednesday could bring snow for low levels.

Maximum temperatures are expected to be no more than five degrees, but the southerly winds will make it feel like it's in the negatives.

Weather Watch analyst Richard Green says you can't see too far into the future, but suggests it could be a cold winter.

"Over the last five years we've seen snow in Christchurch each season and on a couple of occasions it's been as much as three snowfalls a year. There's a chance that we could match that or even better it this particular season.

"At the moment it's holding true, that snow will be near the sea level if not at sea level, accumulations could be as much as 10 to 20 centimetres."
He says the snow could fall until Friday, but warns another flurry could hit on Sunday.

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/17630655/snow-on-the-way-for-christchurch/

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[Rwood]

"Could be a cold winter" says very little. It's only 15% or so underway yet, and it's far too early to make such suggestions. For the country as a whole it's been a milder than average June so far.

[GregSomers]

Just stumbled across this article whilst looking through some old major weather events. I must say Richard Green should be absolutely ashamed of that prediction of a “colder then normal” winter. Not only were both July and August well-above the long term average (August being the warmest ever recorded at the airport) the 2013 winter as a whole was the warmest ever recorded at the airport. Not sure what he bases his predictions around but he might want to re-think what models and/or data he places his faith in!!

[gabba]

Maybe my memory has been clouded by age but the years I lived there it was not uncommon to have 2 to 3 snowfalls in Christchurch central each year. Perhaps only 1 to 2 would ever be substantial enough to slow traffic.

[Rwood]

NIWA current MTD climate map shows warmer than average areas larger than cooler than average ones.

http://www.niwa.co.nz/static/climate/monthtodatetemp.png?1234

[GregSomers]

It's not just your memory Gabba - Richard Green is a headline hunter, he appears on Radiolive at every opportunity and sensationalises almost everything!