Arrow Junction hits minus-6 as police urge caution on frozen roads

by Kim Bowden - Jul 12, 2024

Southern police are urging motorists to drive with caution as frosty conditions are making some roads across the district more dicey than usual.

With temperatures below freezing, multiple roads are reported to be icy, with patches of black ice.

There is also a mixture of clear skies and thick fog across the district, and police say motorists should be taking the weather into account and drive to the conditions.

"The important thing is to slow down and be on the lookout for ice, fog or excess grit on the roads," they say in a statement issued just after 8am Friday.

"If a patch of road looks wet or damp, assume it’s black ice; let your car slow down on its own, and brake gently before you get to a curve."

There is also freezing fog around Alexandra through to Cromwell, Upper Clutha and Tarras.

"This is when tiny, supercooled liquid water droplets in fog freeze instantly on exposed surfaces when surface temperatures are at or below freezing."

In its daily roading report, the Queenstown Lakes District Council warns of "widespread ice issues" and advises grit has been applied extensively to roads throughout the district.

It reported temperatures of minus-6 degrees Celsius at Arrow Junction at 7.15am.

MetService says Saturday looks to be another cold start but temperatures will generally warm up as we head into next week.

Meanwhile NIWA says Central Otago may have broken a New Zealand weather record this week - in Ranfurly on Wednesday night the barometer reached a new high of 1046.5hPa (hectopascals), which is provisionally the highest national mean sea-level pressure recorded ever.

According to NIWA's meteorologists, a high pressure system brings clear skies and cold conditions to many, but for some in Central Otago it can mean a temperature inversion causing fog and freezing temperatures that can stick around for much of the day.

Main image: Freezing fog at Lowburn at 8am, Thursday July 11, 2024.