Showers, snow and sunshine

Monday 23rd July 2018

Southerly winds returned over the weekend bringing with them some snowfall over the higher parts of the South Island. While the snow is likely to stay up in the hills, many parts of New Zealand are set to see temperatures drop with some cooler nights in store.

MetService has issued a Heavy Snow Watch for inland parts of Nelson and Buller including the Kahurangi and Nelson Lakes National Parks until Tuesday morning.

“A slow-moving front tonight is likely to bring snow to the ranges of the top of the South Island, perhaps even down as low as 400 metres for the inland parts of the Nelson and Buller regions,” MetService Meteorologist John Law says, “Take extra care on the roads in the wintry weather and keep up to date with the latest forecasts on MetService.com.”

Showers are set to linger across the North Island for Tuesday, especially in the west.

“Sunshine and showers seems to be the order of the week for the North Island, with most of the showers expected in the west, ” Law says. “While night-time temperatures aren’t set to be the coldest we’ve seen, they are edging back down towards freezing so we will have some chilly nights to come.”

For the South Island the combination of cold air and lingering showers continues to bring the risk of snowfall about the higher passes on Tuesday but a short–lived ridge of high pressure will allow for some drier weather midweek.

“The West Coast will be the place to be on Tuesday with plenty of fine weather in store, however, hop over the Southern Alps and it’s a cloudier looking Tuesday,” says Law.
Midweek, a slim ridge of high pressure builds across the South Island ahead of a series of fronts pushing back into the west of New Zealand.

Law explains, “The ridge we see on Wednesday is a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ kind of affair. But as winds swing back round to the north we will see our temperatures pick up a few degrees towards the end of the week.”

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