A flurry of snowfall on the Desert Rd in the middle of summer has shocked one motorist and been labelled as “unusual” by MetService.
Footage provided to 1News shows snow falling on State Highway 1 at around 10am this morning.
“It’s summer, and it’s snowing,” said Sam Allen, who filmed the video.
“This is the most ridiculous thing. It’s just crazy.”
MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker said the temperature dropped in the area “reasonably suddenly” at around 10am.
“We’ve had a couple of patches that have been seen, so it does look like there has been a bit of flurry.”
Bakker said snowfall at this time of the year was “unusual” but that if it were to happen anywhere on the North Island, it would be on the Desert Rd due to its high elevation and distance inland.
“Having those southerlies affecting a lot of the country, that would have been pushing a lot of the colder air from further south.”
The key North Island route will close from January 13 for rebuilding and road repairs.
