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Rainbow Weather (Next 3 days): The snow forecast for Rainbow is: Light rain (total 4.0mm) at first, then becoming colder with a dusting of snow on Tue afternoon. Freeze-thaw conditions (max 6°C on Thu afternoon, min -2°C on Tue night). Wind will be generally light.
Rainbow Weather (Days 4-6): Moderate rain (total 17.0mm) heaviest on Sat night, then becoming colder with a dusting of snow on Sun morning. Freeze-thaw conditions (max 9°C on Fri afternoon, min -1°C on Sat night). Winds decreasing (near gales from the NW on Sat afternoon, light winds from the WNW by Sun night).
| Resort | Snow Depth | Temp. (°C) | Wind (km/h) | Weather | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top Lift: | 1 |  | ||||
| Bottom Lift: | 3 |  |
Latest snow reports near Rainbow:
Tuesday 14 | Wednesday 15 | Thursday 16 | Friday 17 | Saturday 18 | Sunday 19 | Monday 20 | |||||||||||||||
AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | |
 | |  |  | |  | |  |  | | |  | | | |  | |  | |  | | |
light rain | snow shwrs | light snow | some clouds | snow shwrs | cloudy | some clouds | clear | clear | clear | clear | some clouds | some clouds | light rain | light snow | light snow | snow shwrs | snow shwrs | some clouds | cloudy | light snow | |
km/h | |||||||||||||||||||||
Snow map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||||
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | |
2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | |
max°C | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
min°C | 2 | 1 | -2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | -1 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | -1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
0 | 1 | -6 | -5 | -4 | -5 | -3 | 0 | -4 | 1 | 4 | -5 | -1 | -2 | -5 | -3 | -3 | -4 | -3 | -4 | -4 | |
95 | 91 | 86 | 76 | 74 | 89 | 92 | 51 | 57 | 40 | 39 | 47 | 69 | 74 | 85 | 90 | 72 | 87 | 81 | 69 | 93 | |
1900 | 1900 | 1600 | 1400 | 1850 | 1800 | 2100 | 2400 | 1800 | 2900 | 3100 | 3050 | 2400 | 2350 | 1750 | 1400 | 1750 | 1550 | 3250 | 2550 | 3150 | |
 | 6:41 | — | — | 6:39 | — | — | 6:37 | — | — | 6:37 | — | — | 6:35 | — | — | 6:33 | — | — | 6:31 | — | — |
 | — | 7:47 | — | — | 7:49 | — | — | 7:50 | — | — | 7:51 | — | — | 7:52 | — | — | 7:53 | — | — | 7:54 | — |
Light rain (total 4.0mm) at first, then becoming colder with a dusting of snow on Tue afternoon. Freeze-thaw conditions (max 6°C on Thu afternoon, min -2°C on Tue night). Wind will be generally light.
Moderate rain (total 17.0mm) heaviest on Sat night, then becoming colder with a dusting of snow on Sun morning. Freeze-thaw conditions (max 9°C on Fri afternoon, min -1°C on Sat night). Winds decreasing (near gales from the NW on Sat afternoon, light winds from the WNW by Sun night).
Latest snow reports near Rainbow:
| Top snow depth: | — |
|---|---|
| Bottom snow depth: | — |
| Fresh snowfall depth: | — |
| Last snowfall: | 7 Oct 2025 |
| Snow Alerts | Create Alert |
0.1 | Bluebird Powder days Fresh snow, mostly sunny, light wind. |
|---|---|
0.7 | 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 Rainbow at the specific elevation of 1540 m. Our sophisticated weather models allow us to provide snow forecasts for the top, middle and bottom ski stations of Rainbow. 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 3.5 Based on 10 votes and 4 reviews
NZ's best kept secret. If you like to get away from the groomers and are prepared to go on short walks, Rainbow will be very good to you. Requirements to enjoy Rainbow: if you're a snowboarder, have an old board with you, if the rocks are showing you can still get freshies all day. Skiers, to have as much fun as the boarders you will need to be comfy with powder and same advice re your skis, skins would be a big advantage to take you up the big hill - 6:1. Never an unhappy face in Rainbow and the road's good. Chains are essential most of the time even if you have a "Big horn".
Sam Mc Eachern from New Zealand writes:
NZ's best kept secret. If you like to get away from the groomers and are prepared to go on short walks, Rainbow will be very good to you. Requirements to enjoy Rainbow: if you're a snowboarder, have an old board with you, if the rocks are showing you can still get freshies all day. Skiers, to have as much fun as the boarders you will need to be comfy with powder and same advice re your skis, skins would be a big advantage to take you up the big hill - 6:1. Never an unhappy face in Rainbow and the road's good. Chains are essential most of the time even if you have a "Big horn".
The Rainbow skiing weather widget is available to embed on external websites free of charge. It provides a daily summary of our Rainbow 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 Rainbow at:
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