Wind chills of below -10C are possible in some farming communities of the lower and alpine South Island on Monday and Tuesday as an explosive storm rapidly develops over the south Tasman Sea and then the Southern Ocean this weekend.

The low is expected to have central air pressure of 982hPa at noon Saturday over the south Tasman Sea, dropping to 957hPa on Sunday over the Southern Ocean and then 931hPa by Monday. On Monday the centre of this storm will likely be 1000km south east of Dunedin and peaking in power.

This southern placement of the storm means that northern NZ, although windy, won’t be caught up in the main event. However the lower South Island certainly will be – and winds from straight off Antarctica will surge up the lower South Island.

Head forecaster Philip Duncan says in fact wind chills halfway between Stewart Island and the Antarctic Ice shelf, over the Southern Ocean, will be -30C to -40C. “By the time those winds reach NZ it will be -2 to 10C in some exposed parts of Southland and Otago on Monday (especially overnight Monday and into Tuesday morning)” he says, based on data and forecasts from www.RuralWeather.co.nz.

“There is a chance up in the mountains wind chills of -10C to -15C or more are likely” says Duncan.

“Wind chill below zero can kill newborn livestock, especially with hail, sleet, snow and rain showers in the mix to make the animals wet”.

It’s not all bad news – in true spring style tomorrow (Saturday) will be well above normal temperature-wise in most regions and more mild weather returns by this time next week.

www.RuralWeather.co.nz has all the wind chills – hourly for 10 days – at your local farm or property. It’s free to access so check out your temperatures (along with wind speeds, hourly rainfall, snow outlooks, even hourly barometric pressure for 10 full days).

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