Snow, rain, sleet, gales and thunderstorms all sound dramatic but that’s looking like our forecast for today or tonight across the country.

It might take a while to crank into gear but strong and blustery northerlies are expected to whip up across much of the North Island today and tonight delivering rain with some heavy falls and also WeatherWatch.co.nz isn’t discounting squalls and thunderstorms in some isolated areas.
Eastern parts of the Noth Island should escape most of the rain with just lighter falls later but the winds are expected to rise and become gusty from the nor’ west.

South Islanders are still in for a cold blast which should move over the lower half today and then move further north tonight and overnight.

Snow is expected to be fairly widespread and down  to very low levels across eastern and southern areas of the Mainland with some significant falls possible over the Canterbury foothills.Up to 50cm of snow could fall above three to four hundred metres with lesser falls and a mix of rain, sleet and snow tonight about the coast.

Christchurch could see rain to begin with followed by snow and then rain may return with another flick of a similar mix again tomorrow night.

Temperatures are likely to be quite mild over the upper north and east of the North Island but bitterly cold in the far south as the day rolls on.

Story by Weather Analyst Richard Green

Image of a snowy Dunedin