Cold blast coming this week

Cold winds, periods of rain, hail, and inland snow are on the cards for New Zealand during the first half of this week.

“This will be a noticeable contrast to the relatively warmer and settled weather that most places have experienced this weekend,” says MetService Meteorologist Stephen Glassey.

An area of low pressure moves over New Zealand from the Tasman Sea on Monday followed by a blast of cold air from the south late Monday and Tuesday. Another cold burst moves north over the country on Wednesday before the weather begins to settle down towards the end of the week.

Snow is expected to lower to around 300 metres over the lower South Island from Monday evening. These conditions are likely to cause stress to livestock and affect higher roads and passes. A road snowfall warning has been issued for Milford Road in Fiordland http://bit.ly/RoadSnowWarnings and several more warnings are likely for other higher roads in the South Island for Tuesday. The Desert Road in the North Island is also likely to see some snow on Tuesday and late Wednesday.

“The whole country should experience changeable and unsettled conditions during the first half of this week, so everyone should keep up to date with the latest forecasts at http://bit.ly/metservicenz,” says Glassey.

Glassey adds, “It is not unusual to get weather like this during spring. Just last week we had a similar cold outbreak, and we will likely see some more cold outbreaks before spring is over.”

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