New Zealand Forecast – A Little More Snow In Canterbury As Tasman Low Rolls Over The North
Published early Friday, 4th July 2025
The front came through yesterday, Thursday, bringing fresh snow to the South Island. By the time ski fields shut up shop, they were reporting around 10-12cm. A little more snow fell after that, so this morning’s reports will have the final tally when they come out. Meanwhile, rain and strong winds had Turoa closed for the day and hampered operations at Whakapapa.
A low-pressure system in the Tasman will cross the North Island today, Friday, and Saturday, bringing more rain to Mt Ruapehu, but winds will gradually ease. Meanwhile, a light onshore flow on the South Island will push in a lot of low-level cloud, which will mostly clag up Canterbury slopes. Light, dense snow will fall there from Friday night until the early hours of Sunday, potentially adding up to 5 to 10cm. Things clear up on Sunday as the low moves out east, with fine weather persisting through Monday into Tuesday.
Friday 4th July
The Southern Lakes ski fields will be mostly clear above a deck of low-level cloud. Canterbury will remain mostly cloudy through the day before dense snow falls at night. Light winds.
More rain and strong northwest winds for Mt Ruapehu.
Saturday 5th July
A light southeast breeze will keep a deck of low-level cloud over the Southern Lakes, which may sometimes affect the lower slopes of ski fields, limiting visibility. Otherwise, it’ll be bluebird above it.
A cloudy day, clagged-in, low vis day for Canterbury with light snowfall and light south-southeast breezes.
Rain persists throughout the day on Mt Ruapehu, while northwest winds gradually ease. The rain will finally clear at night as southeast winds develop.
Sunday 6th July
Fine and sunny for Southern Lakes with a light southerly breeze.
Remaining light snowfall in Canterbury clears early morning before cloud tops lower below base levels later in the morning, leaving blue skies for the rest of the day. Super light south to southwest breezes.
South to southeast winds on Mt Ruapehu will finally bring mostly clear skies.
Monday 7th July
A nice, fine day with light winds across all NZ ski fields.
Tuesday 8th July
A fine start to the day, but clouds and northeast winds will start to build over the country as a front approaches from the west.
Extended Forecast
Later next week, on Wednesday, the 9th, or Thursday, the 10th of July, one or two fronts from the west will bring a mild northerly flow over the country and a mix of rain and high-level snow to South Island ski fields. The fronts are expected to be weak at this stage, so precipitation figures aren’t large.
Next Weekend, another Tasman Low is expected to roll over the North Island again, potentially bringing heavy rain and high-level snow to Mt Ruapehu. Colder winds from the east to south over the South Island should bring more snow to ski fields there, with Canterbury currently favoured for a big dump.
That’s all from me today, folks. I’m sending out these forecasts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday throughout the season. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday.
Grasshopper
