MetService weather ambassador Bob McDavitt said last year's massive snow fall in May was exceptional.
"This year will not be quite as out of the ordinary, so I doubt we will have much snow on the mountains in early June.
"A fair amount of warm air is still coming in from the ocean. But [on Thursday] snow was reported in Tasmania. It will take a while for this weather pattern to travel across the Tasman Sea, but there is a chance some colder weather could reach the South Island by the end of the week."
Mid to late June would be more likely for snowfall, he said.
The forecast of relatively mild weather is backed by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).
NIWA's seasonal climate outlook for May to July for Inland Otago said temperatures were "likely to be in the average or the above-average category".
Long-range weather forecaster Ken Ring bases his climate forecasts on the Moon's effect on tides and air pressure, taking into account the Moon's monthly cycles and its longer repetitive cycles of nine to 11 years.
He expects a dry winter season this year.
"A good southerly outbreak arrives in the last week of May, but despite this promise, June may be mostly dry until light snow arrives in the last week," Mr Ring said.
"July is also likely to be sparse, with the first half of the month dry, and snow days - about seven of them - starting mid-month. But August will be a different story, with good snowfalls in the first and third weeks."
He said he expected no more than a dozen "memorably heavy snow days" in the whole season, with more than half of those coming in August.
Lighter snow may fall in the last week of June, the third week of July and from the end of July until the first week of September.
His prediction would sound positive for the start of the ski season.
"While the season may be overall a drier one and missing the great amounts of precipitation that becomes snow, temperatures may be cold enough for snow machines to operate from May 19 through to mid-October," he said.
NZSki is counting on the strength of its army of snow guns on Coronet Peak to get the ski field ready for opening day.
"There is still a chance of natural snowfall.
"But as long as the temperature is down to freezing, we can make enough snow to be operational in just three days," Mr Coddington said.
"We have plenty of water, and have the machine power to cover the main trails.
"We will be ready to open on June 5," he said.
Mr Ring expected Queenstown would see less sunshine than average this winter.
He expected the coldest times of the season to be the first and last weeks of July, with temperatures down to at least -5degC.
Once the ski season starts, the local radio stations and ski field websites will have daily snow reports.
This year, MetService will make its online weather reports available on mobile phones, with access to ski field reports and general weather reports.
