Another cold week to come

Another cold week to come

Kiwis will be reaching for those extra layers once again, as cold air spreads across the country. MetService is advising of colder temperatures across New Zealand, especially for the second half of this week. Snow showers are already falling across parts of southern New Zealand and the forecast for the week keeps hold of these wintry showers.

While the snow showers are forecast to run across Fiordland and Southland during Monday and Tuesday, with relevant Severe Weather Warnings already in place, a change to a more southerly wind flow towards the middle of the week will see the snow showers spread into Otago, Canterbury and parts of the North Island. Showers pushing onto the eastern coast of the North Island are forecast to fall as snow down to 200 metres.

"It is shaping up to be a cold week," MetService Meteorologist John Law commented. "The combination of these cold temperatures with the showery airstream moving across New Zealand does mean we are likely to have snow falling to lower levels in many places." Even the Far North of the country will experience the temperature falling away this week, with the cold air reaching Northland and Auckland during Wednesday, leading to some cold days and even colder nights. Temperatures across these northern parts of the country are widely forecast to dip back down to 3 or 4C overnight Wednesday, while parts of Waikato and the Central Plateau are forecast to drop back down below freezing.

The central parts of the South Island are also forecast to see cold temperatures both day and night. However, the temperatures are not expected to drop to those record-breaking temperatures that were recorded in June. "Look out for more cold nights coming up across inland Canterbury and Otago, " Law said. "But without a deep layer of snow to keep the lower levels of the air incredibly cold, temperatures are forecast to drop to -9 or -10C for the likes of Twizel, rather than the -20C that was recorded last month.
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