ANOTHER STUNNING DAY TOMORROW (SUNNY & MILD) – A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN OUR WEATHER THIS WEEKEND.

(SUMMARY –  WEDNESDAY EVENING 6:55PM). 

Good evening. It’s been another fantastic day across Canterbury, with sunny and settled conditions. Most of Canterbury hovered in the mid-teens, with Hanmer Springs taking top honours with a pleasant 19 degrees. This evening and overnight expect settled conditions and frost chances will be low and confined to inland higher altitude areas. Low cloud may just push inland about Coastal Canterbury especially around Christchurch and areas north to Amberley.

YOUR OFFICIAL DAILY ‘HIGHS’ FOR WEDNESDAY – Hanmer Springs 19, Culverden 18, Christchurch 17, Rangiora 17, Rolleston 17, Oxford 17, Ashburton 17, Methven 16, Twizel 16, Darfield 16, Kaikoura 16, Timaru 16, Castle Hill Village 15, Mt Cook Village, Arthur’s Pass Village 14.

RAINFALL TODAY – No rainfall recorded at 3:00pm. It will remain dry overnight across the region.

BRIEF SUMMARY (MAIN POINTS)

Get out and enjoy the most of Thursday & Friday. On Saturday we see a distinct change, with colder southerlies, showers and rain. While totals aren’t significant and snow won’t fall below 700m, it will be a shock to the system after a rather settled ‘working week’.

We currently have a Alpine Road Snowfall ‘Warning’ in place for Saturday, with full details on timing and possible snowfall accumulations.

Early stages of next week look unsettled with the potential for a series of cold southerly fronts; once again nothing significant but colder more unsettled weather may kick start our May. If you’re after more detailed and specific information, our towns forecasts will provide the most detailed and specific long range content available.

Our May Outlook will be released for all members on the 30th of April.

SITUATION/OVERVIEW –  Our current high pressure will  hang on & bring a mostly settled and sunny Thursday & Friday.  Our high pressure will move east over the country on Friday and this kicks starts our extremely unsettled period of weather. A large low pressure will bring heavy rain, snow and strong winds for most of New Zealand during the weekend, but there is still some uncertainty on totals and snow levels here in Canterbury. Currently snow levels are hovering around the 800-900m ‘mark’.

Colder southerlies will develop on Saturday which may bring a more sustained period of rain, showers and snow above 800m. We are seeing a more active period of weather from Saturday onwards, with more southerly fronts and associated showers and snow for the ranges and possibly higher hills into early stages of next week. At this stage there is nothing significant expected, but a sure sign we’re heading into the colder months.

GENERAL SUMMARY FOR CANTERBURY – PLEASE CHECK YOUR TOWN FORECAST FOR MORE SPECIFIC INFORMATION.

THIS EVENING & TONIGHT: Mostly clear conditions tonight. High cloud at times. Low cloud pockets north of Christchurch about the coast. Light coastal winds. Overnight Low: 4-6 degrees.

THURSDAY: Sunny, with high cloud across the region. Light winds and mild temperatures. A fantastic day. H: 17-20 L: 4-7

FRIDAY: Sunny, with high cloud and mild conditions across the region. Remaining dry. Gusty to strong NW winds for the Main Divide & High Country, with rain developing – fine out east. H: 17-19 L: 6-8

SATURDAY: Rain about the Main Divide. Rain becoming widespread and persistent across the region early on. Possible heavy falls in the mix. Cold southerlies, strong about Coastal areas.  Snow lowering to around 1000m about the High Country. H: 9-12 L: 3-5

SUNDAY: Cloudy and cold across the region. Periods of rain or showers at times, with snow above 1000m about the ranges.  Strong cold southerlies, gale at times about exposed parts of Coastal Canterbury. H: 11-13 L: 4-6

Source our town pages for 1-7 day forecast for 23 towns across Canterbury – no computer-generated content and specific information for each town.

The ‘Situation’ will be reviewed & updated around or before 7:00am Thursday morning.

Weather Analyst: Russell Voice

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