Heavy snow fall forces road closures in South Island amid wild weekend weather for New Zealand

Saturday, 10 August 2019

Wild weekend weather has hit the South Island already with heavy snow and road closures.

State Highway 73 through the Southern Alps township of Arthurs Pass is closed between Springfield, Canterbury and Arthurs Pass.

The highway is open to non-towing vehicles with chains from Arthurs Pass to Otira on the West Coast.

Weather watchers are reporting 'crazy' heavy snowfall blanketing the village in up to 1.3m of snow.

In Southland the NZ Transport Agency has issued an avalanche hazard warning for State Highway 94 between Te Anau and Milford – but the road remains open.

The warning will be in place for the weekend and the agency is urging drivers to be careful. Worsening conditions may force a road closure.

Snow, thunderstorms and rain were all on the cards for New Zealand this weekend, MetService meteorologist Peter Little said.

Heavy snow has blanketed the Southern Alps village of Arthurs Pass.

'Unfortunately, it's going to be a pretty messy weekend,' he told Stuff. 'A lot of people were going to have to plan indoor activities.'

Following snowfall on Friday night, heavy snow was forecast for parts of the South Island, with the possibility of snowfall 'blanketing' Southland like it did in recent weeks.

* Stormy Wednesday followed by more cold unsettled weather

* Heavy snow for South, rain, wind and cold for many

About 20 cars were waiting at the roadblock just west of Springfield, Canterbury on State 73 for an update at 12pm. The road has been closed because of snow at and around Arthurs Pass. At 11.35am four wheel drives and two wheel drives with chains could proceed to at least the Red Shed.

* Southerly winds bring chilly showers, lower temperatures across New Zealand**

'[We're] expecting a lot more snowfall in the South Island … gradually this snow will fall to lower elevations,' Little said.

Snow was forecast to fall heavily above 500 metres. Little said it would mainly affect those 'further inland and higher up', such as the southern parts of Canterbury and northern Otago.

Several roads were expected to be affected by snowfall. The MetService website issued warnings for Lewis Pass, Arthur's Pass, Porters Pass, Haast Pass, Lindis Pass, Crown Range Road, Milford Road, and Dunedin to Waitati Highway.

About 20 cars were waiting at the roadblock just west of Springfield on State 73 for the update at 12pm. The road has been closed because of snow at and around Arthurs Pass. At 11.35am four wheel drives and two wheel drives with chains could proceed to at least the Red Shed.

While some southern parts would be hit with snow, others would be battered by rain.

Start planning some indoor activities, because snow, rain, thunderstorms and wind are expected to batter the country. (File photo)

Little said forecasts predicted heavy rain west of Nelson, in the Tararua Range, in areas of Canterbury lower than 500m, and potentially Dunedin.

'At this stage we're expecting it could get close to warning amounts,' he said. Over 24-hours it's possible those areas would receive close to 100mm, while places on the coast would receive around 40mm.

Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Taupo and Wellington were also in the line of rainfall, the MetService website forecast.

Forecasts predicted heavy rain for west of Nelson, the Taurara Range, areas of Canterbury lower than 500m, and potentially Dunedin.

Snow recently in fell in Fairlie in the Mackenzie District.

Little said it would be 'quite an action packed day of weather' for New Zealanders.

Thunderstorms were also expected this weekend for the North Island's north and west regions and also the west of the South Island.

MetService's thunderstorm outlook forecast severe thunderstorms for the west and south parts of the North Island, and the north and west of the South Island through the afternoon and evening. It would bring strong winds between 90kmh and 110kmh, downpours of 25mm to 30mm an hour, small hail and possibly small tornadoes.

In terms of temperatures, the South Island was looking colder over the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, Christchurch was forecast to have highs of 9 degrees Celsius and 11C, respectively, and lows of 3C and 2C. Queenstown was forecast to have highs of 7C and 8C and lows of 0C, while Mount Cook and Ashburton would see temperatures drop below 0C with overnight temperatures of -2C and -1C, respectively, MetService forecasts showed.

In the North Island, temperatures were considerably warmer with temperatures in the teens for most places. Little said they were 'slightly above average' across the island.

On Saturday and Sunday, Auckland would experience highs of 17C, and lows of 12C and 11C. In Wellington, highs of 12C and 14C, and lows of 9C and 8C were expected.

All of this wild weather was preparing New Zealand for a cold week ahead, but there's no indication of any wild storms hitting the country, as was previously forecast.

Little said there were strong 'south westerlies' forecast over the country next week.

'Next week's looking a lot colder and dry … but not expecting any storms over next week.'