Weather: Orange heavy rain warnings, wind watches in place for South Island

By RNZ

Orange heavy rain and road snowfall warnings have been issued for some South Island regions, while watches for heavy rain, snow and wind are in place for a large part of the remainder of the island.

MetService said for the 12 hours from 10am Monday, the area northwest of Motueka could expect between 70 and 100mm of rain.

But there was minimal chance of the warning being upgraded to red, MetService said.

North Otago, Dunedin and Clutha southeast of Raes Junction also had an orange heavy rain warning, with a forecast of about 80mm to 120mm of rain, from Monday noon until Tuesday evening.

The rain is expected to turn to snow above 300m for those regions during Tuesday.

There was a moderate chance of the warning being upgraded to red.

Heavy rain could cause flooding, slips and difficult driving conditions.

⚠A complex trough crosses the South Island tomorrow, bringing severe weather⚠
Several Watches have been issued, including two ❄Heavy Snow Watches❄ for the lower South Island
Two Orange Warnings have also been issued for 🌧Heavy Rain🌧 for Otago and northern parts of Tasman pic.twitter.com/DFLEeRPC06

— MetService (@MetService) July 27, 2024

A heavy rain watch is in place for Mt Taranaki, Westland District, Southland and Clutha about and northwest of Raes Junction on Monday. There was a moderate chance of these being upgraded to a warning.

Some details re: upcoming active weather.

🌧️ Rain, some heavy, for west/lower parts of the SI Mon

🌧️ A period of rain, some heavy, to impact much of the NI late Mon/early Tue

🌧️ Rain, some heavy, east Otago & Canterbury Tue

❄️ Snow will settle near/above 600 m eastern SI Tue pic.twitter.com/sp8m3nRPtF

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) July 28, 2024

But MetService said there was a high chance of the strong wind watches being upgraded to warnings for Westland (in place Tuesday morning to Wednesday noon) and The Fiords (in place Monday night to Wednesday morning).

These winds may approach severe gale in exposed places, MetService said.

And a snow watch will be in place for South Canterbury, including the foothills, inland areas of Otago and Southland as well as eastern Fiordland from Monday until Tuesday.

⚠❄Road Snowfall Warning Update❄⚠

Tomorrow's weather event is also accompanied by a risk of snow accumulating on the roads🚗

Road Snowfall warnings have been issued for Milford Road (SH94), Crown Range Road, and Lindis Pass (SH58) pic.twitter.com/2L3kc4oXw8

— MetService (@MetService) July 28, 2024

There was a moderate chance of the watch being upgraded to a warning, with snowfall possibly reaching warning criteria for the Otago, Southland and Fiordland areas.

“Snow level is expected to lower to 300 to 500 metres overnight Monday and during Tuesday morning with significant accumulations shifting towards eastern Otago.”

A road snowfall warning will be in place for Lindis Pass (State Highway 8), Crown Range Rd, and Milford Rd (State Highway 94), from Monday morning until night.

- RNZ