Heavy rains and gales to hit New Zealand north; snowfall in south

New Zealand’s Met Service has warned residents of a cold snap, today and tomorrow, (April 14 and 15), with snowfall on SH8 Lindis Pass, one of New Zealand’s eight national highways on Tuesday (April 15).

Heavy rain and gale are set to fall on Wednesday in Northland, Auckland and Coromandel.

With a significant drop in temperatures, school holidays are likely to be spent inside by children, with likely storms inbound this week.


“A cold punchy southerly is set to bring a cold snap over much of the country today and tomorrow, particularly for our South Island east coasters”, said the statement.

The maximum temperatures from these regions would drop by 10 degrees Celsius from Monday to Tuesday.

NZ Transport Agency has warned motorists in Otago to be prepared for unexpected hazards and slippery roads.

The Met Service has put out a heavy rain watch for Northland from 6 am Wednesday. Auckland, Great Barrier Island and the Coromandel Peninsula have put out a heavy rain alert from 3 pm Thursday.

“Rainfall amounts may approach warning criteria - and possibly exceed them”, said Met Service in their statement.

The Northland Civil Defense has advised residents to check the drains and gutters and to make sure outdoor furniture and loose items are secured.

Slow-moving subtropical low is forecasted to travel southward over the north Tasman sea. Strong, moist easterly winds will gush to the northern North Island.

There are also heavy chances of rain in the Bay of Plenty and northern Gisborne/Tairawhiti but low chances of northeast winds to be strong enough to trigger a gale warning.

Juliane Bergbolt, the meteorologist from Met Service said that winds could reach upto 90km/h in waning or watch areas with frequent gusts upto 100km/h.