Canterbury Snow Forecast

The detailed regional picture — within 90 hours.

Issued Wednesday 29 July 2026, 08:22 NZST · Period 90 hours from Wed 29 Jul 08:00 NZST

A southwesterly system brings snow to Canterbury's higher ground from the early hours of Friday through to Sunday morning. The snow accumulation level starts high — around 800m — then descends through the window, reaching its lowest over Banks Peninsula in the early hours of Saturday at around 187m, and over the Mackenzie by Saturday evening around 275m. Snow falls roughly 100–150m below those levels in this kind of setup.

The most significant snow is on the higher inland ground. Lewis Pass (864m, SH7) picks up around 7cm, active from the early hours of Friday through to the early hours of Saturday. Arthurs Pass village and Porters Pass (SH73) get around 1.5–2cm each, with Porters Pass active Friday evening into the early hours of Saturday. Mt Hutt access road (1400m) picks up around 7cm, mostly Friday evening into the early hours of Saturday. Inner Plains hills — the Mt Hutt country — accumulate 4–6cm above roughly 800m. North Canterbury hills accumulate 8–13cm above about 550m, also within the Friday window.

Banks Peninsula is the standout story. It behaves separately from the mainland hills, and the snow level there descends sharply in the early hours of Saturday. Dyers Pass (339m) picks up around 5cm, with snow continuing through to Sunday morning. The Port Hills — Cashmere, Mt Pleasant, Heathcote, Sumner ridge — accumulate around 1cm from the early hours of Saturday through to Sunday morning. Lyttelton, sitting only 10m above sea level, shows around 1.5cm — that is a marginal settling case at very low elevation and should be treated as an upper bound; a skiff is more likely than a firm cover. Akaroa Hilltop (SH75, 500m) picks up around 3cm. Flat Christchurch and the CBD sit below all of this — the surface there holds around 3.5°C, and this is rain for the flat suburbs throughout. Rangiora sees sleety rain in the early hours of Saturday.

The Mackenzie behaves separately from the rest of Canterbury, and this westerly system penetrates further into the basin than most events. Burkes Pass (SH8, 671m) picks up around 4cm across the full window. Lake Tekapo village sees flurries Friday evening. The basin floor stays cold but precipitation there is light and the basin is in partial rain shadow, so accumulation at the floor is modest. Cold air pools near the ground in the Mackenzie, meaning snow can settle a little lower than the snow-level figures suggest — crews on SH8 and the Burkes Pass corridor should watch conditions directly. Hanmer Springs sees only flurries and little or nothing will settle. The foothills and plains of North and South Canterbury — Amberley, Cheviot, Darfield, Ashburton, Timaru, Geraldine — all sit on a mild, wet surface and see rain throughout.

This forecast sits toward the drier end of the range of plausible outcomes for an event like this — accumulation totals at the passes and higher ground could come in a bit higher than shown if precipitation lands closer to the average of the guidance.

Key towns

Road passes