Tornadoes, heavy rain and snow are forecast to hit parts of New Zealand over the weekend.<\/p>\n
MetService has issued 37 weather warnings for the country this weekend.<\/p>\n
South Island can expect tornadoes on the coastal areas, heavy rains and snow, hail and strong wind gusts.<\/p>\n
Some of the thunderstorms may be severe about Buller, Westland, and the Southern Alps bringing gusts greater than 110 km\/h.<\/p>\n
NWA warns that thunderstorms are moving from the west of the South Island to the lower North Island.<\/p>\n
Wellington looks fine on Saturday, but on Sunday MetService issued warnings for thunderstorms, wind gusts and severe gales.<\/p>\n
The wind gusts could damage trees, powerlines and cause driving hazards.<\/p>\n
Aucklanders woke up to a fine day on Saturday, but rain should be back by the evening in the region as well.<\/p>\n
In the South Island, the first heavy snow warning issued in the year meant the opening of the ski season in Cardrona.<\/p>\n
Snow warnings are only issued when significant amounts of snow are expected to fall with at least 25 centimeters.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Hamilton and western Waikato expect downpours, squalls and thunderstorms coming off the Tasman sea, according Weather Watch.<\/p>\n
Squalls, hail and thunderstorms are expected to hit mostly central areas (upper half of the South Island, lower half of the North Island).<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The weather is set to be on repeat until Tuesday, when a milder and calmer westerly flow from Australia covers most of New Zealand.<\/p>\n
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Heavy rain, snow, tornados to hit parts of New Zealand over the weekend - Newshub<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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. Continue reading