A fast moving cold front is racing across the Tasman Sea and towards New Zealand – posing a risk Tuesday afternoon and evening for thunderstorms, squalls and even isolated tornados.

Head weather analyst Philip Duncan says the front will be fast moving and could pack a brief punch.  “This front has spring written all over it. Warm winds to start with, then a period of either heavy rain or showers, followed by gusty winds and a change to cooler west to south west winds before midnight”.

Mr Duncan says this type of weather is normal in spring and many experts believe spring has arrived early this year.

With the front comes the risk of thunderstorms, possibly severe.  The large squalls may produce cloud to ground lightning, isolated tornados/damaging wind gusts, hail and flash flooding.

“tt’s not going to last long, it will quickly move in from the Tasman late in the day then clear the country overnight.  For some people in may just be a few showers, for many it will be a short sharp blast, and for a few isolated pockets there could be severe weather”.

People should keep up to date with the latest WeatherWatch.co.nz forecasts and news and monitor MetService thunderstorm outlooks.

The risk zone covers most of western New Zealand, particularly the West Coast and from Mt Taranaki northwards.

– WeatherWatch.co.nz