Blog: By Head Weather Analyst Philip Duncan.

While weather analyst Richard Green is sunning himself in Australia we’re all back here in New Zealand experiencing a wintry reminder!

Light snow has twice in four days fallen to relatively low levels in the South Island and today appears to be no different. 

Another cold front is moving up the South Island this morning and will reach the North Island this afternoon dropping temperatures even further. 

Invercargill will be lucky to reach 9 today with a wind chill much closer to zero as that icy wind blasts in from the Southern Ocean.  Light snow flurries are also expected to spread across Central Otago and near Queenstown later today as the air continues to cool.

There is some good news – in true spring style wind directions at this time of year seem to only last 24 hour in the far south so by this evening a slightly warmer westerly will kick in and by tomorrow that will be a much warmer nor’wester.

In fact most of New Zealand will feel the chill today as that front moves up – reaching Auckland late this afternoon or this evening as a bunch of showers with a sting in the wind – but by tomorrow a warmer northerly will spread northwards bringing a return to warmer, drier, conditions in the east.

Of course the northerlies are an indicator of yet another front on the way, this time for Friday.  A strong high over the North Island will bring settled weather to the top half but everywhere south will be in that ‘squeeze zone’ meaning gales should return to places like Wellington this weekend with heavy rain again across the West Coast.

Ahhh – lucky Richard!!