Mainly dry for the northern and western side of the country today. A southerly wind change moving up the east coast of the South Island brings patchy rain or drizzle, reaching Marlborough and the lower North Island this evening / overnight. Expect snow flurries low down (300m) on surrounding hills / ranges overnight as this change moves through. The hills of Canterbury see most from this snow, especially North Canterbury / the Kaikoura ranges.

Morning showers or drizzle with snow flurries to 300m clearing Canterbury / Marlborough on Friday then mainly dry. Showers move into the North Islands east coast, some snow to 400m. Bay Of Plenty through to Northland sees a few showers move through for at time, especially afternoon then clearing in the evening.

This coming weekend is mainly dry for most of New Zealand. A few remaining light showers can be expected on Saturday for Hawkes Bay / Gisborne and Northland in a southeasterly airflow. Sunday may see a few light showers or drizzle patches push into eastern regions from afternoon, dry for everyone else.

For rainfall accumulation maps for 1, 2 and 3 days out please visit our new maps page: https://www.weatherwatch.co.nz/maps-radars/rain/accumulative-rainfall

By Weather Analyst Aaron Wilkinson – WeatherWatch.co.nz