School holidays off to a frosty start
Children excited to be on holiday might be tempted to stay a bit longer in bed in coming days, with frosty conditions expected to continue.
People living in inland areas of the North Island and much of the South Island will get frosts from this morning until Monday, according to MetService meteorologist Andy Best.
Colder mornings in the South Island/Te Waipounamu are likely to continue through to Wednesday. Severe frosts are expected for places including Alexandra and Queenstown, with temperatures likely to dip below -5C.
Best said residents of those two Otago towns in particular would feel the chill from Monday to Thursday.
Temperatures ranging between -4 to -6C are expected in the mornings — that’s 5C below the average for this time of year.
Tomorrow , rain is expected to hit Northland, Auckland and the Coromandel. Northland is under a strong wind watch until midday on Monday and a heavy rain watch until Tuesday, according to the meteorologist.
Elsewhere in Te Ika-a-Ma¯ui (the North Island), conditions are tipped to be fine apart from showers for the East Coast and Wellington.
The South Island should be also mainly fine, apart from a few showers for Banks Peninsula, Fiordland and Southland.
On Monday, people north of Taupo¯ are expected to see some rain, while showers may pepper areas between Gisborne and Wairarapa.
Similar conditions are forecast for Tuesday.
Areas in Fiordland, Southland and Queenstown are expected to get showers across Monday and Tuesday.
Temperatures across the country will likely struggle to reach 15C in the coming days. Although most areas in the North Island will make double figures, the likes of Christchurch and Dunedin will largely sit between 7C and 9C until Tuesday, Best said.
With many hoping for some time on the slopes these school holidays, Best said there’s no indication a significant dumping of snow is on the way in the immediate future.