Brrr-ace yourself for wintry blast
A frosty week ahead will plunge much of the South Island into single-digit temperatures, with the first snowfall warning of 2018 predicted to affect many high-traffic alpine passes.
In the North Island thunderstorms and gale-force winds are set to wreak havoc before the cooler air is felt.
A low pressure system in the Tasman Sea and a strong cold front from the Southern Ocean will bring severe weather to much of the country in the coming days.
Both Lewis Pass (State Highway 7) and Porters Pass (SH73) were expected to accumulate 40 to 50cm of snow at high levels with lesser amounts down to 400m overnight, according to MetService.
MetService meteorologist Claire Flynn said there were heavy snowfall warnings in place for the Canterbury High Country and Kaikoura Ranges above 400m and snowfall watches for Otago, Southland and Fiordland above 300m.
“Those closer to the coast will likely get heavy rain,” she said.
“While we may not see snow in Christchurch City, for example, higher roads of Banks Peninsula are likely to be affected by snowfall.”
Snow was also likely for the central North Island from Tuesday night and into Wednesday as the Arctic blast was set to gradually move up the South Island and into the North Island over the coming days, she said.
Christchurch was set to have a high of 8C or 9C on Tuesday, which after a recent high of 27 was “a hell of a difference”.
After two back-to-back nights predicted at a nippy 2C, Queenstown was predicted to drop to -1C on Wednesday night. Ashburton would be 1C on Wednesday night after two nights below 5C.
MetService forecast heavy rain today for Fiordland and Westland ranges south of Otiraand for Buller, Nelson, Marlborough and Canterbury tomorrow.
While the deep south is feeling the cold, Auckland will get evening showers tonight, developing into heavy falls on Tuesday.
Gale-force winds were also predicted for the north within the next three days.
A southwesterly on the Raglan coast was expected to rise to 35 knots by this evening.
Flynn said tying down trampolines, avoiding unnecessary travel, and clearing gutters were just a few steps people could take to prepare for the extreme weather ahead.