The shortest day also marked the coldest day so far this winter across Central Otago with conditions ripe for the hoar frosts the region is famed for.
The mercury struggled to climb above freezing across much of the region yesterday with Alexandra reaching 1.4degC at 3pm from an overnight low of -4.2degC according to MetService.
Widespread fog across the district combined with frost to produce almost hoar frost conditions.
That fog lingered from the northern boundary of the town, blanketing Clyde almost all day — meaning from a -2degC start, the town struggled to reach 0degC.
Cromwell woke to -1.8degC with fog lingering until early afternoon.
Oturehua lived up to its reputation as one of the coldest places in New Zealand waking up to a bone-chilling -8.6degC yesterday.
Omakau and Ranfurly fared a little better on -6.8degC and and -5.9degC respectively.
Roxburgh was the only place to begin the day above freezing with an overnight low of 1.1degC.
MetService meteorologist John Law said those conditions were expected to persist throughout the week.
"It’s a big area of high pressure."
The temperatures recorded yesterday were in stark contrast to how winter was going so far across Central Otago, as the mercury had climbed to day time highs of around 7-8degC.
A similar level of humidity was expected today and in the coming days and the base set by yesterday’s temperatures meant the possibly of hoar frost was high, Mr Law said.
