Queen’s Birthday weekend is shaping up to be mostly dry for those in eastern parts of the South, but severe weather warnings have been issued for some inland and western areas.
MetService today issued a heavy rain warning for the headwaters of the Otago lakes and rivers, taking in most of Saturday.
The forecaster also issued a heavy rain watch for Fiordland and a strong wind watch for Central Otago, the southern lakes and inland Southland, also taking in most of Saturday.
The severe weather is the result of a trough of low pressure from the Tasman Sea expected to spread up the western South Island throughout the weekend.
Milder conditions are expected once the front moves through, but the whole country can expect rain at some stage over the weekend, MetService said.
MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane had earlier suggested it was looking good for outdoor activities in the South.
She said tomorrow was forecast to start with high cloud around Otago and Southland, but rain was expected to develop later in the day.
"It’s also looking like quite a windy day for both Otago and Southland - especially for Otago, with those northwesterly winds coming through.
"As the day goes on, rain will start to spread into the Southland region, but it doesn’t stick around for too long.
"Temperatures are going to be fairly mild throughout the long weekend — nothing too cold for this time of year.
"It’s those westerlies and northwesterlies that keep things not too cold. And the minimum temperatures are not dipping too low, so there is unlikely to be any frosts, and that will all be due to that cloud cover."
Ms Makgabutlane said Sunday would start with some showers in Southland and possibly Dunedin and Central Otago, but it was expected to clear, leaving high cloud again.
That would continue into Monday, and the sun would start to appear across the regions as the weather system moved north.
"It’s looking like it will be a good weekend for outdoor activities.
"The only niggling thing could possibly be the wind on Saturday and a bit of rain on Sunday morning."
