Christchurch snow days

This page is a brief history of significant snowfalls in Christchurch.

If there’s snow in Christchurch

• Check the Christchurch City Council website for more information;
• Go to the Environment Canterbury website for Canterbury information.

A timeline of Canterbury snowfalls

Significant snow storms occurred in Christchurch in 1862, 1895, 1896, 1901, 1918, 1945, 1992, 2006, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

1862

• Painting: Snow on Oxford Terrace, Christchurch 1862

1895

• Photograph: Riccarton Mill in a snowy July 1895

1918

• Photograph: A tram runs into difficulties, at the corner of Colombo and Armagh Streets, when Christchurch was hit by snow 1918?

14 July 1945

• There was record snowfall 30 to 40 cm over most of the city. 
• The snowfall ranged between 25 cm to 60 cm in rural areas.
• The snow was followed by -1 to - 7 °C frosts that froze the snow to power and telephone lines, resulting in several broken and bent poles.
• Power was cut off for about a week in many rural areas.

27 August 1992

The "Big Snow of 1992" was Canterbury's heaviest snowstorm for 30 years. Snowfalls of 5cm to 30 cm fell in Christchurch and over 100cm fell on the Port Hills.

Across the Canterbury Plains approximately 40cm of snow fell, which in some locations fell on top of snowfall from the previous month.

The 1992 snow storm killed over one million stock in Canterbury and damaged buildings in the Christchurch and surrounding areas. Its overall economic impact was estimated to be somewhere between 50 and 100 million dollars.

The 1992 snowstorm had a recurrence interval of about 50 to 100 years. However, while this snow storm was particularly heavy in Christchurch, other areas of the Canterbury Plains seem to have been less affected than in previous events.
Information from CCC archives: Christchurch City Update ’97 — Natural Hazards

• Books and videos about the 1992 Big Snow

2002

• Story behind the big snow 22 June

2003

• Hardest frost in 50 years 26 June
• Wrap up, folks — the worst’s not over yet 5 July

2004

• Bitter August biggest snow month since 1988 28 August

2005

• Storm batters city and farms 20 September

2006

• NIWA says snow storm was exceptional south of the Rakaia NIWA media release
• Photographs of the storm and its aftermath were captured in a commemorative book: Snow storm.
• NASA’s Earth Observatory web site posted a report and a detailed satellite image.

2010

• Canterbury lashed, power cut 8 June

2011

• Wintry blast brings country to a standstill 25 July
• Christchurch’s new white zone 26 July

2012

• Thousands warned of night with no power 6 June

Flickr set of images of the 2012 snow

2013

• Southern polar blast continues 21 June

More information on snow in Christchurch and Canterbury

• View our snow, winter and Matariki images
• Search our Papers index for more snow news stories
• Our snow photos from the Discovery Wall
• Snow photos from Canterbury Stories
• Christchurch snow photos on Flickr

Snow images from Canterbury Stories

Earth sciences

• Climate change
• Earthquakes
• New Zealand earth science and geology