The longest night of the year will be greeted by a cold trough which is expected to hit New Zealand late tonight.
It will bring welcome snowfall and cold temperatures to Central Otago's skifields late tomorrow and on Monday, MetService forecaster Andy Downs said.
However, Dunedin was not expected to get snow until a cold southerly moving up from the Antarctic arrived late on Monday.
Today, the weather was predicted to be fine with thickening high clouds, but tomorrow the rain would set in as a cold southwest change hit.
A severe weather watch had been issued, warning of heavy rain for the West Coast with some spilling over into the hydro-electricity lakes of Otago and Canterbury, although not at levels experienced last weekend, he said.
Weather ambassador Bob McDavitt said even though today was the shortest day of the year, it would not be the coldest.
"Once the days get longer, the cold gets stronger. The coldest part of winter usually follows about four to six weeks after the shortest day."
