Wintry blast for the lower South Island

Wintry blast for the lower South Island

Heading into the end of the week, New Zealand looks set to see winds arriving from the deep-south, bringing with them a real bite in the air and a drop in temperatures. Although not unusual for this time of year, the combination of cold temperatures, strong winds and wintry showers are set to bring a real taste of winter once again, mainly over the lower South Island. Showers over parts of Southland and southern Otago are expected to bring snow as low as 400 metres.

"These wintry showers are likely to be accompanied with hail, and snow lowering to about 400 metres overnight, affecting the ranges and some of the higher roads, including the Milford Road, Lindis Pass, and the Crown Range Road" MetService meteorologist Elke Louw said. If you are planning a trip over these higher passes of the South Island, it will pay to stay up to date with the latest Road Snow Warnings from MetService. "These conditions are expected to be short lived, as the weather becomes more settled as we head into the weekend" Louw commented.

For up-to-date state highway travel information visit www.highwayinfo.govt.nzor phone the NZ Transport Agency's 0800 4 HIGHWAYS information line to get the latest updates or to report incidents or hazards on the state highways.

Keep up to date with the latest forecasts and any watches/warnings atmetservice.com or on mobile devices at m.metservice.com. You can also follow our updates on MetService TV, @metservice on Twitter and at blog.metservice.com.

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