Winds described by a MetService meteorologist as ''relentless'' are battering the shores of Lake Wanaka and forcing aerial and water tourism ventures to turn away customers to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.
Duty meteorologist Leigh Matheson told the Otago Daily Times yesterday the persistent northwesterlies were a feature of the El Nino weather pattern.
''If you know you are in an El Nino phase, the relentless wind is not at all surprising,'' she said.
Eco Wanaka Adventures co-owner Lee Eadie said the adventure business had cancelled one trip this week and turned away bookings over the past weeks on days with a bad forecast.
''The weather is keeping us on our toes.
''I'm feeling like a farmer, very much at the mercy of the weather, but there is nothing any of us can do about it and we would rather be safe than sorry.''
Lake Wanaka Cruises owner operator Simon Stewart said the company had changed the tours on offer in response to the blustery conditions.
''The lake is not exactly beckoning at the moment.
''When you consider that we can quite easily make a considerable amount of money with kayaks, the weather is having a real impact,'' Mr Stewart said.
Southern Alps Air Scenic Flights owner Paul Cooper estimated the scenic flight company had lost ''tens of thousands of dollars'' worth of business because of the weather in October and November, but he did not think it was worse than in previous years.
''The wind does have an impact. It is our business pretty much down but I don't think it is much worse than a normal spring.''
Ms Matheson said of the two strong El Nino systems that had affected New Zealand in the past, the way the current El Nino was acting was similar to the 1982 one.
''The westerlies from the 1982 system were pretty similar to what is currently happening.''
She said while it was not possible to predict whether the winds would continue into January, long-range forecasts did not show it dying down soon.
Wanaka could experience winds of 50km gusting to 100km tomorrow and on Friday, she said.
