Risk of avalanches with wild weather

The Avalanche Advisory has issued warnings for dangerous conditions in high alpine areas.

• This story was first published in RNZ

Fiordland and Aoraki Mt Cook have alerts for heightened conditions in alpine areas, with the potential for avalanches as storm snow falls.

The Metservice says the incoming front could bring rainfall which may reach warning levels on Tuesday for the catchment areas of the Canterbury and Otago lakes and rivers, Fiordland and Westland.

At Aoraki Mt Cook, avalanches large enough to hurt, kill or bury people were witnessed last week.

The Nelson Lakes area has an alert for a moderate risk for higher elevations.

In the North Island, there's a heightened risk of avalanches for all elevations at Tongariro.

In August an avalanche hit a skiing party on Aoraki Mt Cook, triggering a helicopter rescue.

A guide was dragged hundreds of metres down the mountain by the avalanche, partially burying him, before the other skiiers were able to dig him free.