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Mount Lyford Weather (Next 3 days): The snow forecast for Mount Lyford is: A dusting of snow on Sun morning. Freezing level rising with drizzle on Tue night. Freeze-thaw conditions (max 9°C on Tue afternoon, min -2°C on Sun morning). Winds increasing (light winds from the WSW on Sun afternoon, gales from the NW by Tue night).
Mount Lyford Weather (Days 4-6): Mild with light rain (total 7.0mm) on Wed night Becoming colder with a light covering of snow, mostly falling on Thu night. Freeze-thaw conditions (max 8°C on Wed afternoon, min -4°C on Thu night). Winds decreasing (extremely windy from the WNW on Wed afternoon, light winds from the WNW by Fri night).
| Resort | Snow Depth | Temp. (°C) | Wind (km/h) | Weather | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top Lift: | 1.1 m | -4 |  | |||
| Bottom Lift: | 0.2 m | -2 | |
Latest snow reports near Mount Lyford:
Sunday 14 | Monday 15 | Tuesday 16 | Wednesday 17 | Thursday 18 | Friday 19 | Saturday 20 | |||||||||||||||
AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | |
 |  |  |  | |  | | |  |  | |  | | |  | | | | | |  | |
light snow | some clouds | clear | clear | some clouds | some clouds | clear | clear | light rain | rain shwrs | some clouds | rain shwrs | rain shwrs | some clouds | mod. snow | snow shwrs | some clouds | clear | clear | some clouds | cloudy | |
km/h | |||||||||||||||||||||
Snow map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||||
1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | — | 5 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
max°C | -1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | -2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
min°C | -2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | -4 | -4 | -1 | -1 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
-8 | -3 | -3 | 0 | -4 | -3 | -1 | 3 | -1 | 0 | 0 | -5 | -5 | -7 | -11 | -11 | -4 | -4 | 2 | -1 | -4 | |
97 | 95 | 63 | 60 | 67 | 65 | 84 | 60 | 44 | 83 | 72 | 73 | 71 | 69 | 92 | 92 | 69 | 37 | 10 | 34 | 67 | |
1200 | 1250 | 1700 | 2100 | 2400 | 2650 | 2500 | 2650 | 3300 | 2400 | 3500 | 2950 | 1850 | 1600 | 1100 | 900 | 1250 | 1850 | 2450 | 2800 | 3200 | |
 | 6:31 | — | — | 6:30 | — | — | 6:28 | — | — | 6:26 | — | — | 6:24 | — | — | 6:22 | — | — | 6:22 | — | — |
 | — | 6:14 | — | — | 6:15 | — | — | 6:15 | — | — | 6:16 | — | — | 6:17 | — | — | 6:19 | — | — | 6:20 | — |
A dusting of snow on Sun morning. Freezing level rising with drizzle on Tue night. Freeze-thaw conditions (max 9°C on Tue afternoon, min -2°C on Sun morning). Winds increasing (light winds from the WSW on Sun afternoon, gales from the NW by Tue night).
Mild with light rain (total 7.0mm) on Wed night Becoming colder with a light covering of snow, mostly falling on Thu night. Freeze-thaw conditions (max 8°C on Wed afternoon, min -4°C on Thu night). Winds decreasing (extremely windy from the WNW on Wed afternoon, light winds from the WNW by Fri night).
Latest snow reports near Mount Lyford:
| Top snow depth: | 110 cm |
|---|---|
| Bottom snow depth: | 20 cm |
| Fresh snowfall depth: | — |
| Last snowfall: | 12 Sep 2025 |
| Snow Alerts | Create Alert |
0.3 | Bluebird Powder days Fresh snow, mostly sunny, light wind. |
|---|---|
0.6 | Powder days Fresh snow, limited sun, any wind. |
0.1 | Bluebird days Average snow, mostly sunny, light wind. |
The above table gives the weather forecast for Mount Lyford at the specific elevation of 1400 m. Our sophisticated weather models allow us to provide snow forecasts for the top, middle and bottom ski stations of Mount Lyford. To access the weather forecasts for the other elevations, use the tab navigation above the table. For a wider view of the weather, check out the Weather Map of New Zealand.
Click here to read further information on freezing levels and how we forecast our temperatures.
Overall 3.4 Based on 1 vote and 4 reviews
Mt Lyford is a very worthwhile little resort. It is located on the edge of the Kaikouras about 40 minutes drive from the famous surf breaks. The location gives it a rather different climate to any other New Zealand reports and so it can have good seasons when other places are poor and vice versa. It is not terribly far from either Hanmer or Rainbow yet the weather at Mount Lyford is often very different. Easterly winds favour snowfall here but there is some exposure to southerly fronts too. Depending on the season, snow bases can range from 50cm to almost 5m. Mount Lyford is also unusual because there are many wooden chalets located above the winter snowline in the beech forest giving it a tranquil and Alpine feel. You can either hire a chalet here or stay in the ski-lodge down by the main road where there are rooms for all budgets. Alternatively, stay at popular Hanmer Springs or even at Kaikoura. The actual ski area is located several kms away and chains and/or 4WD are usually needed for access. Skiing is all above the trees which can cause problems if it is windy or if visibility is poor. Skiing facilities comprise of various drag lifts and a rope. They cover a modest area but as long as the lower lifts are running some longish runs are possible. It is nice terrain - not as challenging as say Broken River or Craigieburn, but good enough for most. Mid week tends to be very quiet here. The top rope tow gives access to a very nice off-piste area and ski touring options abound as long as it is safe to do so. The staff are friendly and there is a small Day Lodge for food and drinks or just a break. The views are incredible.
Rob from United Kingdom writes:
Mt Lyford is a very worthwhile little resort. It is located on the edge of the Kaikouras about 40 minutes drive from the famous surf breaks. The location gives it a rather different climate to any other New Zealand reports and so it can have good seasons when other places are poor and vice versa. It is not terribly far from either Hanmer or Rainbow yet the weather at Mount Lyford is often very different. Easterly winds favour snowfall here but there is some exposure to southerly fronts too. Depending on the season, snow bases can range from 50cm to almost 5m.
Mount Lyford is also unusual because there are many wooden chalets located above the winter snowline in the beech forest giving it a tranquil and Alpine feel. You can either hire a chalet here or stay in the ski-lodge down by the main road where there are rooms for all budgets. Alternatively, stay at popular Hanmer Springs or even at Kaikoura.
The actual ski area is located several kms away and chains and/or 4WD are usually needed for access. Skiing is all above the trees which can cause problems if it is windy or if visibility is poor.
Skiing facilities comprise of various drag lifts and a rope. They cover a modest area but as long as the lower lifts are running some longish runs are possible. It is nice terrain - not as challenging as say Broken River or Craigieburn, but good enough for most. Mid week tends to be very quiet here.
The top rope tow gives access to a very nice off-piste area and ski touring options abound as long as it is safe to do so. The staff are friendly and there is a small Day Lodge for food and drinks or just a break. The views are incredible.
The Mount Lyford skiing weather widget is available to embed on external websites free of charge. It provides a daily summary of our Mount Lyford snow forecast and current weather conditions. Simply go to the feed configuration page and follow the 3 simple steps to grab the custom html code snippet and paste it into your own site. You can choose the snow forecast elevation (summit, mid-mountain or bottom lift) and metric/imperial units for the snow forecast feed to suit your own website…. Click here to get the code.
View detailed snow forecast for Mount Lyford at:
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