{"id":578663,"date":"2026-08-24T09:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T09:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/578663\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T09:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T09:34:11","slug":"south-island-winter-storm-heavy-rain-and-snow-forecast-from-wednesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/578663\/","title":{"rendered":"South Island winter storm: Heavy rain and snow forecast from Wednesday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"TpGGueVENmajZwYgWe\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cAccumulations at this level are likely to impede travel and NZTA may close sections of highway or introduce restrictions to keep people safe and avoid vehicles becoming trapped,\u201d NZTA said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"NZTA has attempted to reassure motorists that crews will work to keep roads safe in the cold conditions. Photo \/ NZTA\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>NZTA has attempted to reassure motorists that crews will work to keep roads safe in the cold conditions. Photo \/ NZTA<\/p>\n<p class=\"TpGGueVENmajZwYgWe\" style=\"display:none\">NZTA attempted to reassure drivers that roading crews would work around the clock to clear snow or other obstructions, but urged anyone travelling on state highways to check weather forecasts and NZTA\u2019s journey planner site.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TpGGueVENmajZwYgWe\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cIn winter driving conditions where traction is affected by snow\/ice or heavy rain, motorists are urged to reduce their speeds, increase their following distances, avoid sudden braking or turning movements and to stay as visible as possible,\u201d NZTA advised.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TpGGueVENmajZwYgWe\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cCarrying warm clothing, food and water is also recommended in case of travel delays or detours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Heavy snowfall could impact South Island travel. Photo \/ NZTA\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Heavy snowfall could impact South Island travel. Photo \/ NZTA<\/p>\n<p class=\"TpGGueVENmajZwYgWe\" style=\"display:none\">Earlier in August, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/weather-road-snowfall-warnings-in-place-across-three-south-island-areas\/SKOVJNCSPZE6DLTTE7N3UMIRGU\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/weather-road-snowfall-warnings-in-place-across-three-south-island-areas\/SKOVJNCSPZE6DLTTE7N3UMIRGU\/\">road snowfall warnings<\/a> were placed in the central South Island and the central North Island, while the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/frosty-weather-forecast-cold-southerly-to-bring-low-temperatures-this-week\/IEGEYMAJRNHQFG357S22XDJC6Q\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/frosty-weather-forecast-cold-southerly-to-bring-low-temperatures-this-week\/IEGEYMAJRNHQFG357S22XDJC6Q\/\">Desert Road was closed<\/a> because of cold conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cAccumulations at this level are likely to impede travel and NZTA may close sections of highway or introduce&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[95,124,2841,5346,5616,71,27610,6559,2514,95541,111,43,139,69,6560,19328,20383,5257,6633,1240,673,1680,23644,102,27609,80],"class_list":["post-578663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-and","tag-could","tag-country","tag-expected","tag-forecast","tag-from","tag-havoc","tag-heavy","tag-island","tag-midweek","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rain","tag-reach","tag-roads","tag-significant","tag-snow","tag-south","tag-storm","tag-wednesday","tag-winter","tag-with","tag-wreak","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}