Heavy rain, snow, tornados to hit parts of New Zealand over the weekend – Newshub

Tornadoes, heavy rain and snow are forecast to hit parts of New Zealand over the weekend.

MetService has issued 37 weather warnings for the country this weekend.

South Island can expect tornadoes on the coastal areas, heavy rains and snow, hail and strong wind gusts.

Some of the thunderstorms may be severe about Buller, Westland, and the Southern Alps bringing gusts greater than 110 km/h.

NWA warns that thunderstorms are moving from the west of the South Island to the lower North Island.

Wellington looks fine on Saturday, but on Sunday MetService issued warnings for thunderstorms, wind gusts and severe gales.

The wind gusts could damage trees, powerlines and cause driving hazards.

Aucklanders woke up to a fine day on Saturday, but rain should be back by the evening in the region as well.

In the South Island, the first heavy snow warning issued in the year meant the opening of the ski season in Cardrona.

Snow warnings are only issued when significant amounts of snow are expected to fall with at least 25 centimeters.

Up to 1.5 metres of snow are expected for the tops of the Southern Alps with the plateau showing heavier snow, according Weather Watch.

Hamilton and western Waikato expect downpours, squalls and thunderstorms coming off the Tasman sea, according Weather Watch.

Squalls, hail and thunderstorms are expected to hit mostly central areas (upper half of the South Island, lower half of the North Island).

The perfect combination to create them comes from a deep low/storm in the Southern Ocean which is dredging up Antarctic air - but before it reaches NZ it's curving around as a nor'wester and merging with milder airflows.

The weather is set to be on repeat until Tuesday, when a milder and calmer westerly flow from Australia covers most of New Zealand.

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Heavy rain, snow, tornados to hit parts of New Zealand over the weekend - Newshub