South shivers in wintry blast

Brendan Dyer sent in this picture, taken in Old Cromwell before dawn today. Tripod used, 25 sec,...
Brendan Dyer sent in this picture, taken in Old Cromwell before dawn today. Tripod used, 25 sec, ISO100, f4.5.

Roads are reopening after a wintry blast hit the South this morning,but power remains out for some users and motorists are advised to take caution on many of the region's roads.

The cold snap has been felt up and down the country, with Southland covered in a blanket of snow, Napier hit by sleet and ice, and Wellington and Auckland experiencing plunging temperatures, fierce winds and rain.

It is currently the biggest storm on earth, according to WeatherWatch. The low stretches from just south of Fiji to Antarctica's ice shelf, but only 20% of it is affecting New Zealand.

Around Dunedin, the Northern Motorway has reopened but the NZTA is advising extreme care.

  • Check road conditions here

Further afield, SH 87 Kyeburn-Outram is closed, while cautions are in place for: SH85 Kyeburn-Palmerston, and Alexandra-Ranfurly, SH93 Clinton-Mataura, SH94 Mossburn-Te Anau, SH6 Cromwell-Frankton, and SH8 Alexandra-Raes Junction and SH1 Pine Hill to Waitati.

There are restrictions in place for SH8, the Lindis Pass, SH85 Alexandra-Ranfurly though snow showers have eased.

The wild weather caused power outages for many in the South, and while some users have had their power restored, others are having to wait into the afternoon.

In Dunedin, Delta marketing and communications manager Gary Johnson said temporary generators were being installed around Musselburgh, where lightning damage to transformers had caused power outages to several streets.

In Broad Bay, power is out to about 20 consumers this afternoon. Delta crews are onsite and repairs are underway.

However, power has been restored  from Weir Road to Taiaroa Head on the Otago Peninsula, and to all consumers in the Port Chalmers area after overhead power lines were downed due to high winds.  

Outages were also experienced in Central Otago - power had been restored to Lake Hayes Estate and Ladies Mile to Lake Hayes Rd, and to Raes Junction, Frankton and Arrowtown, but remained out for about 20 consumers between Cromwell and Queensberry.

About 3400 customers in Dunedin and 4700 in Central Otago have been been affected by power cuts since 8pm last night.  

Several Central Otago roads are closed as well as the highways. The top section of Moa Flat Rd is closed because of heavy snow fall and caution is advised in Becks and St Bathans because of heavy snow.

Danseys Pass is closed, caution is advised from Patearoa to Styx and grit trucks are currently working in the Ranfurly-Naseby area.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council advises that 15-20cm of snow has fallen in the area. About 50cm has fallen at Coronet Peak and The Remarkables skifields. 

The Crown Range road is closed and chains are advised in many places including Fernhill, Queenstown Hill, Dalefield and Malaghans, Arthurs Point, Arrowtown, Kelvin Heights and Glenorchy Road. Gritting was under way from early today.

MetService's forecast for the Southern Lakes area predicted occasional snow showers in the south and mainly fine weather in the north, with southwest gales at 65kmh at 1000m, rising to severe southwest gales at 90kmh, at 2000m.

Around coastal Otago, severe southwest gales gusting up to 120kmh were expected from last night through to midnight tonight. Dunedin residents can expect more snow this morning and into the afternoon, with MetService forecasting 5cm to 10cm around the city, including some to sea level, and about 15cm in the hill suburbs. The expected city high today is 7degC.

Snow showers were expected persist through today and tomorrow about southern parts  of Milford Road.

Buses

The Otago Regional Council advises all Dunedin bus services are operating to schedule except:

The Ross Creek service has resumed travel to Tanner St but is unable to stop at the Glenmore and Glenholm St stops.

The Pine Hill service is travelling along Fea St and missing two stops at the bottom of Pine Hill Road.

The Halfway Bush service is unable to travel on Dalziel Road.

The Waitati school bus is cancelled.

The Connectabus service has resumed after being on hold in the morning.

Airports

Flights are departing Dunedin Airport; there are some delays at Queenstown Airport today. Check Queenstown flights here

Schools

Portobello Primary School, Wakari Primary School, Maori Hill School, St Marys Kaikorai School, Brockville Primary School, Halfway Bush School, Waitati School, East Otago High School, Palmerston Primary School, Flag Swamp Primary School are all closed.

All Queenstown and Wanaka schools are closed (includes Mount Aspiring College, Wanaka Primary, Holy Family Catholic School Wanaka and Hawea Flat School), as are Cromwell College, Cromwell Primary School, Goldfields Primary School, Omakau Primary School and Poolburn School.

Brockville, Wakari, Halfway Bush & Portobello Kindergartens are closed. All other primary and intermediate schools, and DKA Dunedin Kindergartens between Mosgiel to Port Chalmers to Waikouaiti will start at 10am today.

Bayfield High School, St Hilda's, Logan Park High School, will all start at 10am.

Mail

There will be limited or no mail delivery today in Otago Southland from Waikouaiti to Gore and all of all of Central Otago. This includes Queenstown, Wanaka, Cromwell, Dunedin, Mosgiel, Clinton and Balclutha.

Queenstown PostShop and Arrowtown PostCentre are closed today owing to snow. No mail has been sorted to PO boxes.
Delivery disruptions

Mail deliveries are unlikely in Invercargill and Gore, though this will be reassessed later today.

 

(Video courtesy James Gunn)

North Island

Weather forecasters said severe weather would sweep across the North Island and that cold southwest winds would continue to bring showers across Auckland.

MetService said Hawkes Bay has had 2-3cm of snow in parts above 150m and there were brief snow flurries in Taradale and Napier.

Snow fell overnight in Wairarapa down to 300m, with New Zealand Transport Agency teams working through the night to keep the Rimutaka Hill Rd open for commuters to Wellington this morning.

The foothills near Masterton and Carterton on both sides received a dump, as did the Aorangi Ranges on the southern coast.

Although the weather cleared across the Rimutaka and Tararua ranges, snow continued to fall on the eastern foothills during the morning, reaching up to 6cm near Gladstone and Admirals Hill.

Farmers spoken to by reporters said the fall would make no difference to their operations.

A severe weather warning was in place for Wairarapa and western Bay of Plenty where there's a risk of severe southwesterly gales.

"For Auckland, this strong, cold southwest flow continues to pump showers across the region today," said Meteorologist Georgina Griffiths.

"We have had a dusting of snow on highest elevations of Wellington and the Rimutaka Hill Road has had a reasonable total."

The Desert Road in the central North Island has had some snow, and more is expected from tomorrow morning on.

Massive storm dumps Antarctic air

A massive storm just south of New Zealand is responsible for blasting Antarctic air across much of the South Island.

WeatherWatch.co.nz said snow was falling around Southland and parts of coastal Otago such as Dunedin, as well as further inland in areas of Central Otago.

Weather expert Philip Duncan said some snow flurries were falling up through Canterbury but the bulk of the snow was further south.

He said, "It's fairly normal to get a cold snap in late May. We're less than a week away from winter, it's not surprising to get a blast like this."

But he said the surprising part of this system was how deep the low was, just south of New Zealand.

"The air pressure is about 935 millibars, that's what we use to measure a low, and that's putting it up there. The depth of this storm south of New Zealand is up there with some of the biggest hurricanes we've seen. It's a really big storm."

But Mr Duncan said the storm was not directly hitting New Zealand. "We're only getting the edges of it."

Mr Duncan said the low in the South Island had joined forces with the subtropical low that affected the North Island on Saturday.

"The two of them are working together to dredge up Antarctic air. So we've got this air at the moment being pulled up from Antarctica, and dumped over New Zealand."

Mr Duncan said the South Island experienced a very, very cold morning and because the weather system was so big, it would take a few days to go by.

"It's not really going to ease around New Zealand until about Wednesday."

Mr Duncan said tomorrow would be another very showery, cold day, but temperatures would start to rise "a wee bit".

"And when I say a wee bit I really do mean a wee bit. There might only be a degree or two difference, but it's enough to stop snow falling to these low levels."

Mr Duncan said Dunedin, for example, had a forecast high tomorrow of 8C, increasing to 9C on Wednesday, 10C on Thursday and 11C on Friday.

The warm weather would return by the end of the week. "We'll have norwesters and highs back into the late teens by Friday in the South Island."

Mr Duncan said the current snap was a taste of what the country could expect over the next couple of months.

"We're still two months away from the depths of winter."

- additional reporting NZME

 

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