Friday sees more rain and wind on the way from the Tasman, while a very cold change is brewing too – bringing winds up from the Antarctic seas below us! 

A front moves over the South Island in the morning, then onto the North Island in the afternoon – bringing the aforementioned rain and wind.
Strong northwesterly winds ahead of the front then change colder to the southwest behind it.
Heavy rain falls early in the morning for the West Coast of the South Island, with possible thunderstorms and hail, easing as strong northwest winds change to the southwest.
Showers or rain fall during much of the day in Southland & Otago, while there’s also some snowfall down to 400m for a time, and strong to gale westerly winds.
Canterbury and Marlborough see gale northwest winds at first too, then an abrupt change to the southwest in the morning, bringing a few brief showers before clearing up in the afternoon.

The odd shower falls in the west of the North Island to start, becoming heavier in the afternoon with thunderstorms and hail possible, then easing in the evening as strong west to northwest winds change southwest.
The East Coast is mainly sunny, with northwesterlies blowing strongly about the Wairarapa, then changing southwest across the island late in the day, bringing the risk of a shower too.

– Aaron Wilkinson & Drew Chappell, WeatherWatch.co.nz