Major Snowstorm Hits New Zealand

A major snowstorm is currently hitting New Zealand, closing some ski areas whilst it passes through and limiting the terrain it’s safe to open at others.

Ski centres reported up to 45cm (18 inches) of fresh snowfall by Sunday evening, but the snow is expected to keep falling at most for another 24-48 hours. Porters is pictured top.

Mt Dobson (above) say they expect to remain closed through Monday then hopefully have great powder conditions from Tuesday on.

They reported white-out conditions and 40cm (16”) of snowfall by Sunday evening with the access road blocked by snow. Resort teams reported it wasn’t safe to clear the road at present as they couldn’t see where it was.

Some of the country’s larger commercial fields did keep terrain open but warned skiers to wrap up warm in the subzero temperatures with increased windchill, and for those deriving up to ensure they carried/used chains.

All this means that after a problematic start to the 2021 season which saw some ski areas delay opening in June, which was thew warmest on record for the country, then some close for periods in July and early august, again as warm temperatures and in some cases rainfall limited operations, the latter half of the season looks increasingly promising, hopefully, as bases finally build a bit towards and past the metre mark.