SNOW SEASON OUTLOOK 2012 New Zealand UPDATE

21st of May 2012

Sheep being rescured on NZ's South Island in the 2011 epic storms. Image:: Vaughan Brookfield

Season Outlooks | The Grasshopper

Today marks an important milestone for the Grasshopper and Mountainwatch as we move to daily forecasts for Mt Ruapehu.

From now until season end we'll be bringing you daily detailed updates on what weather to expect at Ruapehu out to three days ahead, as well as casting further afield for any big weather events to help you plan your missions to the snow. For major fields in the South Island, we'll continue to bring you updates three times a week so you can keep your finger on the pulse.

To mark today's occasion we thought we'd take another look ahead at what we can expect from season 2012, updating my outlook from April

Only problem is, there's not much to tell you today that we didn't share with you back then.

On the upside, we're still expecting close to average precipitation, and there's nothing to indicate we won't get our fair share of snow-bearing cold fronts this year. But on the downside, we're expecting a warmer than average winter, and this means it's possible the snowline will take a bit longer to descend than normal.

Snowcam vision of Mt Hutt, 21 May. Looks good!

The NZ winter is just such a hard little sucker to pick, containing as it does so much random variation. I'm still optimistic that we'll see at least an average winter, and we'll be here all the way bringing you the latest. If you've ever got questions, feedback, or a bone to pick, hit me up at grasshoppermw@gmail.com or facebook.