Autumn's weather mood swings continue this week, with the majority of New Zealand pegged to have lower than normal highs on Tuesday before heating up on Friday.
"A significant cool down" will chill New Zealand over the next day, Weatherwatch forecasts, with Tuesday expected to be the coldest day of the week for the South Island and the North Island getting icy on Wednesday. But despite that cold snap, Aotearoa will experience Autumn's typical "mood swings" by ending up leaning "warmer than average" for most days this week.
Weatherwatch says 75 percent of New Zealand will have "below normal daytime highs" on Tuesday, with the lower part of the North Island and the entire South Island particularly needing to blanket up.
Alexandra and Invercargill are forecast to be the coldest places in the country with 8C or 9C, while Kaitaia in the north will be the warmest with 18C. Most regions of the country can expect heavy rain throughout the day with possible hail.
"Sub-zero temperatures likely about the inner South Island overnight, a light frost is possible nearer the coast also for the upper South Island. The central North Island and Waikato gets down to 3 or 4 degrees," Weatherwatch says.
Metservice has issued several snowfall warnings. The central North Island is warned of "brief snow flurries" around the top of Desert Rd between 10pm on Tuesday and 2am on Wednesday, while snow showers are expected on Lewis Pass between 10am and 7pm on Tuesday.
The icy-cold temperature won't last too long in the south, however. On Wednesday, half of the South Island will begin warming up as the chill heads north. That means only 45 percent of the country will be cooler than average.
After a bucketing of rain on Monday and Tuesday, things become drier on Wednesday. There may be some showers, however, in Northland, eastern parts of the North Island and Fiordland.
By Thursday, the "cool down" will have mostly left New Zealand, with 60 percent of the country warmer than average, reaching 95 percent on Friday.
That warm weather is expected to stay at least into early next week, with New Zealand unlikely to see any more significant cold snaps for another 10 days.
