24/09/2026
Covering period of Thursday 24th – Sunday 27th September
- Blues skies for many on Thursday
- A series of cold fronts are moving up the country
- Snowy, wet and windy conditions are expected on Sunday
MetService is forecasting a series of cold fronts to pass over Aotearoa/New Zealand, bringing frosty and showery conditions to kick off the school holidays. After the dry weather of Thursday there will be some wetter weather heading our way for the weekend– especially on Sunday, so keep eye on the forecast if travelling.
Blue skies are present for most parts of the country this afternoon (Thursday), but showers over the southern South Island are spreading north and will linger in the west on Friday and Saturday.
MetService meteorologist Samkelo Magwala says, ” We’re in a typical spring pattern, which is why these fronts are moving through quickly, resulting in less rainfall accumulation despite the briefly heavy rain. Parts of the North Island will wake to frosts on Friday morning and we’re forecasting showers from the southwest on both Friday and Saturday before the main band of rain arrives with the front on Sunday.”
A feed of air from the northwest will bring warm and dry conditions for the eastern areas with temperatures in the upper teens and low 20s on Saturday.
Sunday is looking to be a more active day of weather as a front moves up the South Island. Heavy snow is possible above 600m for parts of Central Otago, Southern Lakes, and the Canterbury High Country on Sunday morning. Southwest gales are possible in coastal Clutha, Christchurch and along the Kaikōura coast. As the front moves up the country, northwesterly gales will blow through Cook Strait and across into Wairarapa and southern Hawke’s Bay.
The good news, the unsettled weather is short-lived due to a high-pressure system in the Tasman Sea providing a settled start to the new working week.
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