“Amounts may approach, or even exceed, warning criteria.”
There are also road snowfall warnings for Haast, Lindis and Porters’ Passes, Milford Rd and the Crown Range Rd between Queenstown and Wānaka.
Three to five centimetres of snow could accumulate on the road in Haast Pass (State Highway 6) between midnight yesterday to 6am on Sunday.
The same amount, or possibly more, could fall above 700m - with lesser amounts to 400m - on Milford Rd (SH94) in the six hours to 1pm Saturday.
Two to four centimetres of snow - and perhaps more - was possible near the summit of the Crown Range Rd, with lesser amounts to 400m from 8am to 5pm tomorrow, MetService said.
In Lindis Pass, where SH8 connects Omarama and Tarras, 10cm to 20cm of snow could accumulate near the summit, with lesser amounts to 300m from noon tomorrow to 10am Sunday.
And on SH73 between Christchurch and the West Coast, 1cm to 3cm of snow was possible near the Porters Pass summit from 9pm tomorrow night to 7am Sunday, with lesser amounts to 800m.
Any snow was probably too early in the cold season to have much impact on skifields, Pyselman said.
“They might get 10cm or 20cm but [a] following event might just wash it away … it might be a little bit early [to help].”
The rest of the country could expect a mostly fine weekend, especially the North Island today.
The upper South Island and the entire North Island could enjoy a settled Saturday, apart from the odd shower in parts of the North Island’s west.
“Northern New Zealand [generally] is fine, and in the east too. The top of the South [Island] doesn’t get a bad day either … [and] it looks choice for Auckland”, Pyselman said.
Residents in our biggest city will be spoiled with a weekend of sunshine and highs around 17C, although the lack of cloud cover promises overnight lows in the single digits - similar to the chilly weather experienced across the country during a cold snap earlier this month.
The settled weather continued in the North Island on Sunday, although the easterly flow could push showers into some eastern areas.
Most parts of the South Island could also expect a nice day.
While snow was possible to low levels in the Canterbury high country and rain was expected in Westland and Southern Buller - as well as early falls between Canterbury and Kaikōura - fine weather was expected elsewhere.
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
