MetService News : Windy and Wet

While Saturday is dry and not particularly windy in most places, Sunday is expected to be very different.

"Tomorrow, rain or showers should eventually affect almost all of New Zealand," commented MetService Media and Communications Meteorologist John Law. "There are two areas of the country, though, where Sunday's weather is expected to be severe or close to it."

"The northern half of the North Island including Auckland is in for a stormy time on Sunday, with squally thunderstorms and northwesterlies reaching gale or severe gale by the end of the day," Law went on to say.

"On Sunday, persistent rain in Canterbury, Otago and Southland should turn to snow above about 400 metres south of the Waitaki and a bit higher further north. Together with a strong southeasterly flow, this should feel pretty cold," Law added."Tomorrow, southeasterlies are expected to reach gale or severe gale in Fiordland and Westland."

On Monday, the wet and windy conditions over northern and southern New Zealand should eventually ease right back. From late Sunday into Monday, strong-ish winds and moderate to heavy rain are expected around central New Zealand, though.

MetService has issued a Severe Weather Warning, a Severe Weather Watch, a Snow Otago Warning and Road Snowfall Warnings for this event. Keep up to date with these and the latest forecasts at metservice.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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