Cold weather returns

MetService News Release
Thursday, 02 Oct 2014

Cold weather returns

Weather-wise, things are all about to change. A cold outbreak is set to bring a chilly weekend, with snow forecast to low levels for the far south. The combination of strong winds and cold temperatures will lead to severe wind chill being experienced in the far south and blizzard-like conditions about higher terrain.

The cold change is in sharp contrast to the recent warm weather experienced by many. "The warmest place on Wednesday was Dunedin Airport with a top temperature of 24C," said MetService Meteorologist John Law. "However, as we head into the weekend we are going see maximum temperatures return to the mid-teens across many parts of the country."

Winds are forecast to strengthen before this cold change arrives, with severe gales forecast for parts of New Zealand as outlined in the current Severe Weather Warning. "Stronger winds can be expected, especially in the lee of the Southern Alps over inland Canterbury. Winds are also likely to increase overnight Thursday into Friday for Wellington, Wairarapa and Central Hawkes Bay," Law said.

MetService has also issued a Severe Weather Watch for the Coromandel,Auckland and the western Bay of Plenty as winds increase to gale force on Friday afternoon and overnight into Saturday.

Motorists are advised that falling temperatures and snow about the higher roads could disrupt travel in the coming few days. "Snow is likely to fall about the higher passes of the South Island overnight Thursday and even to lower parts of Southland and Otago," said Law. "And as the cold air spreads onto the North Island later on Friday, we could also see some snow fall on the Desert Road."

Keep up to date with the latest forecasts and any watches/warnings atmetservice.com or on mobile devices at m.metservice.com. You can also follow our updates on MetService TV, @metservice on Twitter and MetService New Zealand on Facebook, and at blog.metservice.com.

© Scoop Media