We’re at the end of September and well into Spring but a significant wintry blast of weather is on the way to southern NZ for the final days of September.

WeatherWatch.co.nz is issuing an early heads up to farmers, in particular with new born lambs and livestock in SOUTHLAND, OTAGO and the WEST COAST.

The current data at www.RuralWeather.co.nz suggests snow flurries are expected in Gore, Lumsden, Queenstown, Arrowtown, Wanaka and potentially Dunedin too (may be too dry in Dunedin). Sleet is possible in Invercargill with below zero wind chill at times.

Daytime highs will range from just +2 degrees to +7 degrees across the lower South Island at the warmest point of Monday, based on today’s data. Wind chill will likely be in the negatives for a large portion of Monday in exposed areas of Southland. This could be deadly for newborn lambs.

Keep an eye on your local ‘farm-gate-forecast’ at RuralWeather.co.nz, plus our daily videos and news feeds for more details.

This may even be one of the lower to sea level snow events of 2020 despite us almost being in the tenth month of the year. Late snow storms in September and October do happen from time to time – Spring is all about winter slowly fading away and hints of summer slowly coming in.

Yesterday parts of Canterbury reached 25 to 27 degrees.

• www.RuralWeather.co.nz and WeatherWatch.co.nz