Cold Southwest Flow Gives Way To Settled Weather For The Weekend

MetService is forecasting cold southwesterlies cover the country today, with several Severe Weather Watches and Warnings in force. There is a Strong Wind Warning (Orange) in force for Hawkes Bay south of Napier, as well as the Tararua District, whilst the far south has Strong Wind and Heavy Snow Watches in force. These are all expected to ease today as the cold front makes its way across the North Island tonight.

Snow has been recorded as low as 200 metres in Southland this morning, with the heaviest snow accumulation above 400 metres. MetService Meteorologist Kyle Lee says, “There are Road Snow Warnings in force across the South Island as well as the Desert Road in the North Island tonight and early Friday morning as the cold front makes its way northwards,” you can get more information on these road snow warnings here https://www.metservice.com/warnings/home.

Overnight temperatures will drop behind the cold front for the South Island tonight, with most towns in Central Otago dropping into the negatives. Blenheim, Christchurch, and Kaikoura are all expected to be 4C below their average for this time of year, at –3C, -2C, and –1C respectively.

For the weekend the outlook looks more promising as a ridge of high pressure takes hold over New Zealand. Showers will be confined to areas exposed to the southwest flow, the upper west coast of the North Island, most of the west coast of the South Island and the far south.

“This will be welcome news for those wanting a break from the cold wintry weather, as well as anyone looking to attend the Super Rugby Aotearoa games in Christchurch on Saturday night and in Auckland on Sunday,” continued Lee.
 

The fine weather and light winds continue for most on Sunday and into Monday to start the working week.

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