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A cold blast from the south is about to sweep across the country, bringing snow to low levels in parts of the South Island and frost to many areas inland.
MetService predicts snow at 400 meters in Southland and Dunedin on Wednesday, and 500 meters from Wednesday night through Thursday for Canterbury High Country and Banks Peninsula.
“Just when I thought it was safe to put your summer shorts back on, this week another icy blast makes its way into the country,” MetService said.
Nadya Zvyagina / Supplied
Snow of up to 400-500 meters is forecast in parts of the South Island.
“The cooler air moves towards Southland on Wednesday morning and then towards the North Island on Thursday morning. In many places, Friday morning will be the coldest time of the week. “
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A high of just 10 degrees Celsius is forecast for Christchurch on Wednesday, 7 ° C below average. On Thursday, Wellington is forecast to reach just 10 ° C – 6 ° C below average, while Masterton is expected to reach 11 ° C – 7 ° C below average.
Southerly winds are expected to blow as far as Northland, where temperatures are predicted to be a few degrees lower than normal. A high of 16 ° C is forecast for Auckland on Thursday, and the temperature will drop to 7 ° C early Friday.
MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said temperatures were not expected to be as below average as they were during the southern spell in early October.
In recent weeks there have been some changes between somewhat warmer periods with winds from the north, followed by those from the south bringing back cooler temperatures.
“Spring is very much the time of the yo-yo, with high and low temperatures, but also fronts and then regions of high pressure replacing them,” Ferris said.
The past month was characterized by fronts moving rapidly from the southwest. Between those fronts there may be a day of clear weather with high pressure.
Frosts are possible early Friday in parts of Waikato, Rotorua, central North Island and Wairarapa, and early Thursday in Central Otago and Southland.
