At the start of the school holidays, stormy conditions are expected across much of the country, with heavy snowfall, downpours and severe storms forecast.
However, there will be unusually warm temperatures for the North Island for this time of year.
Snow fell in Cromwell and reached 200 meters in other parts of Central Otago Friday morning.
Upland in Canterbury south of the Rangitata River, snow can fall as much as 10cm, up to 400m deep and up to 15cm above 700m.
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Some snow could also fall as far as 400 meters, with more above 700 meters, until 10 a.m. Friday in the Queenstown Lakes District, MetService said.
There are multiple South Island snowfall warnings for the Alpine passes, including Arthur’s Pass, Porters Pass, and Lindis Pass. Due to snow, Lindis Pass (SH8) is closed from Tarras to Omarama.
MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan warned people to be careful on the roads and travel together where they could.
The Bay of Plenty east of Ōpōtiki, along with the mountain ranges of Gisborne to the north of Ruatoria, are among the areas with an orange heavy rain warning for Friday, with as much as 120mm possible in a 16-hour period.
Other areas expected to receive heavy rain for at least part of Friday include Northland, Coromandel Peninsula, Rotorua and Bay of Plenty west of Ōpōtiki.
KATHRYN GEORGE/Things
Heavy snowfall is expected in some inland areas of the South Island in the coming days.
The Bay of Plenty in the mountain ranges north of Gisborne is expected to suffer the most from the heavy rain, with 80 to 120mm forecast.
“The rain tire is coming to the beaches all over the country [of Gisborne]increasing rainfall and spilling into surrounding rivers, allowing them to rise rapidly,” a MetService spokesperson said Friday morning.
Residents in the area have been warned about the possibility of flooding and slipping, and to exercise caution when driving in the area.
MetService forecasts rain, some heavy, for Auckland for much of Friday, while rain is expected in Wellington in the morning and then turns to showers in the afternoon.
“It’s going to rain pretty much all over the country today,” said the spokesman.
“Everywhere is wet.”
Christchurch is expected to have some morning rain on Friday, decreasing in the afternoon and clearing in the evening.
Snow is forecast to continue for several days in the Canterbury highlands – up to 500m on Saturday, just a few snow showers on Sunday, then possibly 400m to the south and 1000m to the north on Monday, and more Tuesday.
Southern Lakes and Central Otago could have up to 500 feet of snow Saturday, MetService said.
Heavy rain is also possible on Saturday in Buller, western Tasman, the Marlborough Sounds, Kāpiti and Wellington, while severe north-westerly storms are possible for Wellington and Wairarapa.
Despite the wet conditions, many places in Aotearoa will have warmer temperatures, due to the warm air traveling across the country with the rain.
“The North Island expects temperatures to be four to six degrees warmer than you would expect for this time of year,” MetService said.
Whangarei will be the hottest place to be in New Zealand on Friday, topping the charts with a maximum of 20C, closely followed by Auckland at 19C.
“We will probably feel the warm temperatures especially at night, because of the amount of cloud cover, because clouds act like a blanket and push up the temperature,” the spokesperson said.
Conditions were expected to ease on Sunday, but more heavy rain was possible Monday for many North Island areas and for the north of the South Island, MetService said.
Heavy rain also fell on many parts of the North Island and some eastern parts of the South Island on Tuesday.
Heavy snow may fall above 500 meters on Tuesday in Canterbury, North Otago, Dunedin and Clutha.