Southern Alps Travel Guide — Things to Do, Food & Hotels
mountain range on the South Island in New Zealand
About Southern Alps
The Southern Alps play a significant part in determining New Zealand's weather. The high mountain ranges act like a dam to the wind, forcing weather systems to flow over or around the mountain ranges. The prevailing westerly winds mean theWest Coastand mountains have a high rainfall, while theEast Coastis baked by a hot drynor'wester. When the wind blows from the south, the East Coast receives rain, and snow in winter, while the West Coast will have sunny skies. Southwesterly storms become particularly hard to forecast as a few degrees difference in the storm path is all it takes to have a nor'wester or southerly storm. This leads to weather that can change rapidly and forecasts that may evolve during the day. While New Zealand weather forecasts are reasonably reliable they do change o
Southern Alps Travel Guide Sections
Our comprehensive guide covers 10 sections including: