Meteorologist Lewis Ferris said despite the warmer average temperature, at times the weather would still be cold and it would still be a somewhat typical Central Otago winter complete with frost, snow and the infamous inversion layer of fog.
It would not be until the end of the season when the average temperature is calculated that people would notice the warmer season.
The balmier than average winter will likely go unnoticed by Central Otago residents as people did not tend to exist on a season-by-season basis, rather day-by-day.
Because of this people would notice the differences in temperature day-to-day but likely would not remember the average feeling of the season.
"It would be very rare for someone to get to the end of a season and accurately be able to know if it was warmer or colder."
The forecasts did not mean frost would be less likely and it also did not mean that Central Otago residents would not still experience days where the temperature could get to -5°C or below, he said.
Mr Ferris said with seasonal forecasts, particularly those related to temperatures, the numbers came out at the end of a season.
This was in contrast to measuring if a season was rainier than normal as the amount of rain was more noticeable to people, as it was more likely effect a person’s day.
Despite the forecast predicting the balmy winter, Mr Ferris expected the season to be like any other typical Central Otago one, with days where the inversion layer meant the temperature barely got above 0°C.
With hard frosts and the occasional warm days.
"There will be the southerlies, there will be the snow ... But it won’t be until the end of the season where you go, ‘hey, it’s been a little bit warmer’," he said.
