Ohau Snow Report

Updated: Monday 9 March 2026 - 4:35 PM

Area Status

Opening on Sat 27 June

Road Status

Closed

Weather Conditions

Weather: Windy

Wind: Moderate to gale westerlies

Visibility: Good

Temperature: 3°C

Further Weather Information

Gale gusts all day

Snow Conditions

Snow base at Snow Mat: 60cm

Snow base at Top of Chair: 80cm

Snow base upper mountain off piste: 150cm

24hr snowfall (as at 6am): 50cm

Further Information:

Facility Information

Double Chair: Closed

Platter: Closed

Snow Mat: Closed

Events, Specials or Further Information

Thanks everyone for an awesome season Ohau 2025

5th of March 2026, Mike’s forecast for the Winter of 2026!

Based on the rainfall averages my forecast for the 2024 and 2025 Seasons was pretty much right. We had over 3 meters cumulative snow fall over the winter of 2024 following a dry summer and similar stats for 2025.

And although spring 2025/26 and early summer through January 2026 proved very wet, since then the Summer has been dry with cold temperatures at times so the rainfall stats point to a mildly wet, precipitous and snowy winter. This is because the variance to the annual (Calendar years) average rainfall at Lake Ōhau Station has been small which in short means that if the summer is dry then the winter will be wet and snowy on the mountain.

Further to the rainfall pointers, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) weather cycle is also chipping in this year. Earth Sciences NZ and NIWA’s Seasonal Climate Outlook February - April 2026 and I quote states
“The weakening of La Niña conditions is expected to accelerate in the coming months, with about an 80% chance for ENSO-neutral (El Niño – Southern Oscillation) conditions to return by the end of the forecast period.”

So we can expect strengthening El Nino conditions as we head into winter. That is “El Niño brings stronger, colder southwest winds, causing wetter conditions in the west and drier in the east.

Right up Ōhau Snow Fields alley and looking back over the 36 seasons we have been operating Ohau Snow Fields my observation is that strengthening El Ninos have brought us snow and great skiing and snowboarding conditions.

My forecast for the 2026 Ōhau Snow Season is;

“Snow in May it won’t stay
Snow in June still too soon
Snow in July you can rely”

In light of this forecast and the dates for the July School Holidays, Ohau’s planned opening is the 27th of June 2026, school holidays begin 4th of July 2026 and Closing will be the 4th of October, the middle Sunday of the September School Holidays.

We always close for the second week of the September School Holidays so you can spend a week at the crib (bach for those north of the Waitaki River) and get the lawns mowed and pre summer maintenance underway for the holidays.

Happy skiing and riding…