The low on Friday night is 8C, which could feel colder due to the wind chill.
Lower temperatures brought good news for skiers and snowboarders this week because there was fresh snow on Mt Ruapehu after Thursday night.
“Tūroa had about 7cm on the upper mountain in the last 24 hours.”
O’Connor said a mixture of cold air and rain was coming in from a weather system moving over the South Island.
The central South Island had a large dumping of snow on Thursday, with Mt Hutt recording about 40cm.
On Saturday morning in Whanganui, it will be a cloudy start with sunshine poking through in the afternoon.
“The southerly winds will be easing so it will start to feel better as the day goes on.
“It’ll dry out and be a lot nicer by the end of Saturday.”
Showers are forecast during the day on Saturday, but the wind should die out to bring on a clear evening.
Sunday will be a mostly fine day, but there is a chance of more changeable weather in the afternoon.
“There’s a chance of showers and westerly, southwesterly winds.
“On Sunday there’ll be less of a sunny afternoon.”
The South Island has been hit by a southwesterly weather system that could mean stronger winds pushing up into Whanganui late on Sunday night.
O’Connor said the weekend overall would be fairly settled with a change on Sunday night.
Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering general news stories. She began as a reporter in 2023.
