While the first of September was like summer in many places, today it was back to winter. Bitterly cold weather with rain, hail and wind, hit the east coast of the South Island and lower North Island. Some gusts of wind were 160kmph. The wind blew roofs off from some houses and blew down power lines. About 3,000 homes in Central Canterbury have no power.
Snow fell on mountain passes like Lindis Pass and Arthurs Pass. Snow is expected around Lake Taupo also.
However, the storm will not last longer than one or two days. Warm weather will be back before the weekend.
Vocabulary
• unpredictable – not certain, difficult to know what will happen
• bitterly cold – very, very cold
• gusts of wind – sudden, short bursts of wind
• blew – past of blow
• mountain pass – the lowest part between two mountains where it is possible to cross