A wet start to the school holidays
Unsettled weather is expected for the start of the school holidays with a complex low and frontal band, forecast to
bring a period of rain to the upper South Island and lower North Island this weekend.
"Heavy falls are expected in some areas, with significant snow likely on the ranges of North Canterbury and Marlborough.
Also strong to gale southeast winds can be expected about the Marlborough Sounds, Nelson and Buller early Sunday"
MetService Meteorologist Elke Louw commented.
The wet weather is expected to set in for the upper South Island on Saturday morning, reaching Nelson, North Canterbury
and Marlborough in the afternoon. "Snow is also expected for the hills and ranges of North Canterbury and Marlborough
(between Culverden and the Wairau Valley)" Louw said. "In this area, significant amounts of snow are likely to
accumulate above 500 or 600 metres from Saturday night to Sunday morning, likely affecting the Lewis Pass".
"For the Wellington and Wairarapa region, the hills and ranges (including the Tararua Range), are most likely to be the
affected by periods of heavier rain overnight Saturday into Sunday, as the southeast flow strengthens", Louw went
further to say.
ends