A massive low-pressure weather system, which has parked itself over the South Island and brought torrential downpours to North Otago and Dunedin, is responsible for early season snowfalls above Queenstown and Wanaka.
Queenstown's Coronet Peak base station received a sprinkling of snow on Monday night, and about 5cm fell on the mountain's upper slopes yesterday.
The Remarkables Ski Area manager Ross Lawrence reported snowfalls of about 15cm on the lower slopes and 20cm further up the mountain.
Cardrona Alpine Resort had received about 10cm to 15cm of snow, which settled down to the skifield base car park by yesterday afternoon.
Treble Cone had received 10cm to 15cm of rain-affected snow during the past two days, administration manager Jess Griffin said.
Snow was visible on the Pisa Range yesterday, where the Snow Farm and Snow Park are based.
All the Southern Lakes skifields have started artificial snowmaking operations.
Coronet Peak is the first mountain scheduled to open, on June 5, with the rest expected to open about the last weekend in June.
