Snow falls in the middle of summer in New Zealand

Visitors at a resort in New Zealand were shocked to see the white skies erase the snow in the middle of summer.

According to Stuff, snow begins to fall at the Cardrona Alpine Resort, near Wanaka town on the afternoon of January 21. At first, the amount of snow was quite small, but it fell more during the night. On the morning of January 22, the snow continued to fall, making the resort submerged in a 30cm thick snow.

The road to the resort is covered in thick snow, which makes many vehicles unable to move.(Photo: Ewan Mackie).

Matt McIvor, marketing coordinator of the Cardrona Alpine Resort, said he had never seen these phenomena happen in January during the five years working at the resort.

Some Vietnamese and Chinese tourists are also very surprised and excited to see the snow falling in mid-summer."People feel like they are living in the winter," Matt McIvor said.

The Cardrona Alpine Resort is covered with a 30cm thick snow layer.(Photo: Ewan Mackie).

The Cardrona Alpine resort is open and attracted by summer activities, including mountain biking and walking. However, unusual snowfall has put an end to these activities.

The snow also falls heavily in the Remarkables ski area, an hour's drive from Queenstown center. Now the snow has stopped falling and the temperature is also increasing. The phenomenon of snow in the middle of summer also appeared in this area in the summer of 2014.

Snow also covered at the Hermitage hotel on Sunday morning.(Photo: Ewan Mackie).

Cameron Coutts (Metservice weather forecast agency) said heavy snowfall in New Zealand at this time was "quite unusual". In the coming week, snow may still fall slightly in some places, the weather will also be warmer so some areas will be like spring.

Snow covered the paths.(Photo: Ewan Mackie).

New Zealand's climate is quite different from many parts of the world. Winter begins from June to August, spring from September to November. January is the mid-summer period in New Zealand with an average temperature of about 21 degrees C.