snowingplaces

Mountain range

Southern Alps

The mountain range running down New Zealand's South Island.

Southern Alps snow forecast

Snow is expected at 1 of 1 place in Southern Alps in the next 7 days.

Most snow in Southern Alps in the next 7 days
RankPlaceSnow in the next 7 daysConfidence
1Mt HuttSki resort, New Zealand2–15 cm0–5 inLikely

Snow in the Southern Alps

The Southern Alps run the length of New Zealand’s South Island, rising to 3,724 m at Aoraki / Mount Cook. The commercial ski areas are on the eastern side of the range: Mt Hutt in Canterbury, and Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Cardrona and Treble Cone in the Queenstown and Wānaka lakes region of Otago. Most are ski fields without on-mountain accommodation.

In our record the resorts here average about 7 snowy days at mid-mountain in July and 5 to 6 in June, August and September. The mountains are close to the Tasman Sea, so storms are wet and the snow line moves a lot; the eastern fields get their best snow from southerly and south-westerly storms.

When it snows

Seasons run from mid-June to late September or October. Mt Hutt, high and exposed, usually opens first and closes last.