A forecaster says winter is ending with "quite the statement" this weekend.
MetService has issued several strong wind watches and road snowfall warnings across the country.
MetService's head of weather news Heather Keats told Midday Report while there is a lot of blue sky out there, there is a risk of thunderstorms in the North Island.
"There is quite a significant band moving over Hamilton and coming into Rotorua, at the moment, and that's going to pass over, and we are seeing a couple of sparks there," Keats said.
"These are squally thunderstorms. So there's heavy rain with in, there's a little bit of lightning, there's probably some small hail too, and we are expecting to see quite significant gusts."
MetService is forecasting showers with possibly hail and squally thunderstorms for the upper North Island on Friday afternoon.
MetService has issued strong wind watch advisories on Friday for Hawke's Bay south of Napier, Tararua, Wairarapa north of Martinborough.
Keats said Saturday will bring unsettled weather and then on Sunday another band of string wind is expected to arrive.
A strong wind watch is in place for Auckland and Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula and Waikato north of Hamilton from 3pm on Sunday through until 12am on Monday, with MetService saying there is a high chance this will be upgraded to a warning level watch.
Speeds on Auckland's Harbour Bridge have been dropped to 50km/h as strong winds lash the region.
A strong wind watch is also in place for Northland from 1pm-9pm on Sunday.
Windy Weekend
— MetService (@MetService) August 29, 2025
New Strong Wind Watches have been issued for the upper North Island on Sunday, with a high chance they will be upgraded to Warnings in the coming days.
These watches are in addition to the Strong Wind Watch we already have in Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay.… pic.twitter.com/Ss6glbGaSa
Keats said the worst place to be this weekend is the upper North Island on Sunday.
"We've got a lot of rain coming in with it [the band of weather], and these ones are going to be strong," Keats said.
On the flip-side, Keats said the best place to be is likely Hawke's Bay, with Napier's high on Friday and Saturday is 20 degrees.
Snow in the South Island
MetService has issued road snowfall warnings for Lewis Pass, Crown Range Road and Milford Road.
State Highway 7 between Springs Junction and Lewis Pass has reopened after being closed because of snow.
People are still being urged to drive with care because of the wintry conditions.
MetService said it was expected to snow at Lewis Pass on Friday morning with an additional 2-3cm expected on the road near the summit, then another 2-4cm was expected from Friday night until early Saturday morning.
Snow showers were forecast for the Crown Range Road summit on Friday morning and again late afternoon with up to 1cm of snow expected on the road.
On Milford Road there may be snow showers to 900 metres on Friday morning, lowering to 700m Friday evening.
MetService said 8-15cm of snow may settle on the road near the summit with lesser amounts down to 700m.
The forecast is for squally thunderstorms on the West Coast until Friday evening, with showers for those on the east coast of the South Island.
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