King's Birthday day off looks set to be an indoor one, with a winter blast expected to hit New Zealand, bringing heavy snow, chilly temperatures and rain to large parts of the country.
MetService said heavy rain will lash parts of the country, with heavy snow expected in the South Island on top of southeasterly gales for central New Zealand.
This is because of a front, preceded by a moist northwesterly flow, is moving over the south of the South Island from the southwest, with a low on the front to the west of the South Island.
The front and low move northeast over central and northern New Zealand from Sunday afternoon to early Monday, which will bring a period of rain to most places, MetService said.
MetService meteorologist Andrew James told Newshub this will be the first wintery blast of winter.
"We've had a few cold outbreaks already, but this will be the first one of winter, with meteorological winter only being a few days old, but there will be a decent dose of snow for quite a few places," James said.
It's not just bad weather hitting many places. Kiwis will also need to get the blankets out with James warning of chilly temperatures.
"It's going to be cold for most places, but about normal for this time of year. Later in the week, as that ridge comes over and the cold air hangs around, we actually see temperatures drop a little more overnight," he said.
James warns the bottom of the South Island, for a place like Alexandra, they can expect 1 degree on Sunday night and 0C on Monday night before plummeting to a bone-rattling -4C on Thursday and Friday night.
"So once we have high pressure, clear skies, light winds, that's when we get our coldest temperatures overnight rather than during the actual cold outbreak," James told Newshub.
"While the system is here, there is still cloud overnight, still wind overnight and that stops things from getting too cool."
While most of the country will get some bad weather over the coming days, there is a reprieve for the South Island later in the week.
"We do have this low-pressure system hanging around on Monday and Tuesday and then we do go into things being a little more settled later in the week, especially for the South Island," James told Newshub.
"A ridge of high pressure moves on during the middle of the week, but the North Island continues to be generally wet in the east through the middle part of the week and then into the later part of the week as well."
Weather warnings and watches
This has seen MetService issue 21 weather warnings and watches for large parts of New Zealand for the coming days.
An orange heavy snow warning is in place for the Mackenzie District from 12pm to 9pm Sunday, with 15cm of snow expected down to 400m.
"Heavy snow may disrupt travel in affected areas and could damage trees and powerlines. Cold conditions may cause stress for livestock," MetService said.
Heavy rain will also hit New Zealand, with a watch in place for the Coromandel Peninsula, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Canterbury north of Arthur's Pass and Marlborough east of Awatere Valley and Westland south of Otira.
A heavy snow watch is also in place for Central Otago about and west of Alexandra including the Queenstown Lakes District from 9am to 2pm on Sunday.
Strong wind will also lash the bottom of the North Island and top of the South Island, with a watch in place for Taranaki, Wellington and Marlborough Sounds, Nelson, Buller and Marlborough west of Wairau Valley but excluding the Sounds and Westland including the Grey District.
Road snowfall warnings have been issued for several of the South Island mountain passes for Sunday through to Monday morning, including Lewis Pass (SH7), Arthur's Pass (SH73), Porters Pass (SH73), Lindis Pass (SH8), Crown Range Road and Milford Road (SH94).
"So if you are travelling anywhere from the east to the west crossing the Alps, you should be keeping an eye on the forecast. There are quite a few places to expect some snow on the roads," James said.
