New Zealand’s First Major Winter Storm Is Due To Hit This Weekend Bringing Snow, Gales And Downpours, Coinciding With The Start Of School Holidays

New Zealand’s first major winter storm is due to hit this weekend bringing snow, gales and downpours, coinciding with the start of school holidays. Niwa is warning Kiwis a “polar jet stream” of Antarctic air mass is forecast to bring lowering snow levels, strong winds, cold temperatures and wind chills. MetService meteorologist Alain Baillie says higher areas around Queenstown could even see snow on tonight, and more as temperatures in the area start to drop on Thursday. Temperatures will plunge to freezing, with lows of -1C from Thursday through to Sunday. And WeatherWatch warns the low-pressure system is several times the size of Australia and will see winter reawaken after a run of warmer-than – average temperatures. It is “first major winter storm” of 2023 bringing with it a lot of wind and rain and snow.