New Zealand Forecast – Another Big Load for Canterbury as Storm Enters Second Phase
Published early Wednesday, 8th July 2026
It’s been one heck of a storm that has brought heavy snowfall to Canterbury, where Mt Hutt reported 72cm within 48 hours early Tuesday. Nearby Porters reported 90cm at upper elevations, while Broken River had 30cm. We haven’t seen any numbers coming from the small ski fields in northern Canterbury, where flooding and landslides have caused all sorts of mayhem. The Southern Lakes have also received 15-34cm, which allowed Treble Cone to open for the season on Tuesday, while Mt Ruapehu received a shot of snow on Monday.
We now enter the second and final phase of the storm, where an extra surge of cold winds will bring another 3-10cm shot of snow to the Southern Lakes on Wednesday, while Canterbury will cop another 20-50cm by the time the snow clears there on Friday. Mt Ruapehu will also see good snowfall during Thursday into Friday, with 10-30+ cm on the cards.
This weekend is a long one, with Friday being a public holiday for Matariki, the Māori New Year. With a tonne of fresh powder and fine, sunny weather settling over the country, it’ll be one you won’t want to miss out on.
Wednesday 8th July
An extra surge of cold southeasterly winds arrive on the South Island during the morning, bringing another round of high-quality snowfall to low altitudes, affecting some roads and causing more mayhem.
The Southern Lakes will receive another 3-10 cms by the time it peters out at night, most of which will fall during the morning and early afternoon.
Snowfall in Canterbury will be more significant, gradually building into heavy falls by evening as cold southeast winds strengthen. In the north, it’ll be wet at low elevations until snow levels lower significantly through the latter half of the day.
Mt Ruapehu starts nice and fine. But a strong southerly hits early afternoon, bringing rain and mid-to-high-level snow, until snow levels lower to base levels overnight.
Thursday 9th July
It’ll be a fantastic day for the Southern Lakes with fresh powder on offer. However, cold southeasterlies will keep skies mostly cloudy, but it’ll start to break up during the afternoon as winds start to ease.
Another day of snow in Canterbury, and it’ll be high-quality powder falling to low altitudes, thanks to strong, icy-cold southerly winds. The heaviest falls will come down early morning before easing to lighter snow showers and flurries.
A stormy day for Mt Ruapehu with gale-force southeast winds and snowfall to base levels throughout the whole day. It’ll be a blizzard with the first decent snowfall accumulations of the season. The snow and winds back off a touch overnight.
Friday 10th July
Friday is a public holiday for Matariki, the Māori New Year, and it will be beautiful, clear, and sunny for Southern Lakes ski fields, which will be sitting above the clouds filling the valleys and basins lower down. Cold but light southeast breezes.
A massive powder day for Canterbury that you won’t want to miss. Light snowfall on Mt Hutt and the Craigieburn Range ski fields peters out during the morning as cold southerly winds ease, and skies will start to brighten in the afternoon as clouds overhead begin to thin. Light snowfall in the north continues until late.
Light snowfalls on Mt Ruapehu also continue until late afternoon, with a cold, stiff southeasterly wind.
Saturday 11th July
A mint, sunny day for South Island ski fields above the clouds, as the light southerly breeze dies out. One you won’t want to miss!
Mt Ruapehu will remain cloudy, but it’ll start to break up later in the afternoon as cold southeast winds ease
Sunday 12th July
Another nice, sunny day for South Island ski fields.Clouds will start showing up later in the afternoon as a northwest breeze develops.
The best day of the season so far for Mt Ruapehu, with a solid layer of fresh snow, clear skies and little to no wind.
Extended Forecast
Next week, Kiwi ski fields will add more snow to their snow packs as unsettled weather returns. The leading front may bring a mix of rain and snow, along with strong northwest winds, on Monday and Tuesday, the 13th and 14th, before a cold change brings snow over the following few days. Models still aren’t aligned well, with totals ranging from a little to a lot, from either a couple of passing cold fronts or a more significant low-pressure system
That’s all from me today, folks. I’m sending out NZ forecasts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday throughout the season. Have a great couple of days, and I’ll see you back here on Friday.
Grasshopper
