Autumn cold blast cancels ferries
High winds and heavy swells are cancelling Cook Strait ferries over the next few days. Photo: File.
A bitter Autumn southerly blast has caused Cook Strait ferries to be cancelled due to expected seven-meter swells.
The Marlborough Sounds are under an 18-hour strong wind watch from 6pm Wed, 30 Apr to noon Thu, 1 May, with southerly winds approaching severe gales.
The same weather system is causing a 7-meter swell expected in the Cook Strait, which has caused Interislander and Bluebridge sailings to be cancelled.
The Kaikoura Coast and ranges have an orange rain warning, with predictions of 150mm to 200mm of rain from midday Wednesday to 6am Friday, and snow lowering to about 1000 metres on Thursday.
Coastal Marlborough south of Blenheim, including the Kaikoura Coast, has an orange wind warning in place for 21hrs from 1am - 10pm Thu, 1 May, with severe gale southerlies gusting 130 km/h in exposed places.
MetService has also issued heavy swell warnings through the Cook Strait and on the Wellington coast for the 33-hour period between midday Thursday until 9pm Friday.
Interislander has cancelled crossings from 8.30pm Wednesday through to 2.30am on Friday with more cancellations were likely on Friday if conditions did not improve and extra sailings put on over the weekend to accommodate those passengers.
Bluebridge has currently cancelled sailings from 1.30pm on Wednesday and all of Thursday.
Metservice meterologist John Law said "it is certainly looking like a wet and windy end to April across Marlborough".
"The windiest spots will be around the coastal fringes, especially for the region south of Blenheim where we could find gusts of wind of 130km/h in the most exposed areas.
"The windy weather also brings a fair covering of rain across the region, heaviest over the coastal ranges but generally a wet looking Wednesday across the board.
"The weather system that is bringing this weather remains close by for Thursday meaning the first of May is a similarly wet and windy one.
"With our winds swinging to the south, we will also be noticing some colder temperatures than we saw last week. For example, temperatures in Blenheim on Thursday are forecast to reach just 13C and fall to a chilly 4C overnight.
"The good news is there is some quieter, drier and more settled weather in store next week".
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