Hawke's Bay residents are being warned of possible snow, sleet and severe gale conditions in anticipation of the Antarctic blast forecast to reach the region early tomorrow morning.
A severe weather warning for strong to gale southerlies and very cold temperatures over the South Island is forecast to spread into the North Island on Friday and Saturday. WeatherWatch head weather analyst Phillip Duncan said it was going to get "pretty cold and bleak" over the next few days.
"There is the chance that early Saturday, from midnight to 6am, we could see some sleet down to sea level," he said. "We will probably see snow flurries further inland and you might see a few snow flakes up on Napier Hill at about 3am.
"Roads in and out of Hawke's Bay will almost definitely be affected and I'm pretty confident the Napier-Taupo highway will be closed.
"We are 24 hours behind the initial forecast for when the snow storm would hit, we predicted it a bit earlier in the week but it now means the wet and cold will linger into Saturday," he said.
"It will build up on Friday with the cold southerly and there is a chance we could see snow flurries down to some pretty low levels."
WeatherWatch was predicting the lower North Island could be hit with snow as low as 100m to 200m, similar to the August 2011 storm.
MetService severe weather forecaster Sarah Garlick said the province could expect some heavy rain with strong cold southwesterlies and snow in the ranges.
"It's definitley going to be a lot colder than what Napier and Hastings has experienced recently - overnight Thursday and Friday it will drop to 1C and will max out during the day at around 10C," she said.
"The Ruahine Range will get some snow but it is unlikely to settle at lower levels.
"Hawke's Bay had a day in May and a couple of days this month that reached a max of 12C, so we are looking at the coldest day of the year on Friday."
Electricity distributor Unison Networks is advising its customers to prepare for power outages, with high winds and snow forecast for Thursday and Friday.
Unison Group chief executive Ken Sutherland said the threat of strong winds and snow are warnings for residents to be prepared for power cuts. He said their first priority would be to restore any power outages as quickly as possible, but restricted access and treacherous working conditions could delay efforts.
The AA is also urging motorists to check road conditions before travelling and avoid driving in snowy or stormy weather. AA Motoring Affairs general manager Mike Noon said in extreme weather the best advice is always to stay off the road if you can.
He warned that even in parts of the country that didn't get snow, drivers still need to adjust to wintry conditions.
"If it's raining or a bit gloomy, use your lights during the day. In torrential rain the best thing you can do is pull over and wait for it to ease up. If you can't do that, then at least slow down."
Hawke's Bay Federated Farmers president Will Foley said because of the warmer autumn and start to winter, local farmers have been able to prepare for winter fronts and storms.