On Tuesday we have a low barrelling over the South Island during the day, moving in from the Tasman Sea, then crossing over and moving eastwards – bringin rain, dropping temperatures and even snow for a time.

Rain

Rain on the West Coast of the South Island may contain heavy falls and thunderstorms, before easing later in the evening and overnight, as northwesterlies change southerly. 
Expect rain about Southland and Otago from morning, whle there is also a chance of some persistent and heavy rain in this part of the South Island, before it too eases in the evening.

Snow

Snow moves in to Southland and Otago during the morning, lowering to 800m at first, then right down to 300m by evening – at which point it mostly clears. 
Perhaps there might be a few lingering showers overnight along the Otago coastline, while any snow flurries wouldn’t be worth worrying about by then. 
Rain pushes into Canterbury overnight too, with some snow lowering to 500m.

Wind

A southerly wind change that moves in on the back of this low and pushes into Canterbury during the evening will likely bring strong south to southwesterly winds – especially near the coast.
Winds getting right up to gale force are possible, especially over Banks Peninsula. 
The same goes for the Kaikoura coast overnight, and then Wellington towards dawn on Wednesday.

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

– Photo: Chris Johnson