Forecasts far more on the money than before big snow of July ’57

A vivid northwesterly sunrise over Oamaru last Thursday ahead of a very mild, spring-like day. Photo: John Greene

There's a whisper about that winter will finally arrive this week.

Snow lovers will be pleased, but for the plants (and gardeners) that have grown accustomed to it being spring for at least a month, it will come as a shock.

Who remembers the July 27-28, 1957 snow in Dunedin and around the region? I came across some of the ODT coverage when I was looking for something else in the archives and it sounds like it was a big fall.

In a geeky way, I was curious to see if there was any warning of the impending snow in the weather forecasts in the ODT a day or so earlier. There was vague reference to cold southerlies and rain or snow developing, but nothing specific. It made me realise how much better our forecasts are now.

Keen to hear from you if you have some vivid recollections of that snowy weekend 61 years ago.

Acts of kindness

I had a call from Rosslyn on Friday morning, who was still bubbling about a chance encounter with kindness the previous day.

She had parked in the Golden Centre car park and was having difficulty with the ticket machine.

I was looking for something completely different in the ODT file room (the cow that had triplets) when I came across these very exciting pages (page 1) covering the big snowstorm of the weekend of July 27-28, 1957. It was the most ‘‘violent’’ since Dunedin was isolated by deep drifts in 1939. Why can’t we have some snow like this nowadays?

"There were a couple of people waiting behind me and I said, ‘I’ve got all day, you go first’. When the nice man who went first had finished, I went to try again and he said, ‘it’s OK, I’ve paid yours too’. That was so kind. It was only $6 but I was so grateful."

In the spirit of positivity, I’d love to hear from you about those small acts of kindness from strangers that really made your day.

Oxymoronic fun

Erin, of Dunedin, offers this one: Fun run.

Yep, absolutely agree. How can any run be fun?And Doug Leggett found one on the front page of Friday’s ODT in the story about the $22.3 million Lotto win.

"It was amusing to read [Central Otago district councillor] Martin McPherson’s advice to the Central Otago Lotto winner to ‘keep it secret, and shop local’.

"An oxymoron, surely?"

Yes I’m sure that would get a few tongues wagging.

The smells return

I was looking for something completely different in the ODT file room (the cow that had triplets) when I came across these very exciting pages (page 5) covering the big snowstorm of the weekend of July 27-28, 1957. It was the most ‘‘violent’’ since Dunedin was isolated by deep drifts in 1939. Why can’t we have some snow like this nowadays?

And now to get a few noses wiggling too.

Trevor Norton, of Temuka, emailed saying he was surprised nobody had mentioned that sickly sweet smell of silage in the catalogue of offensive odours.

He also mentioned the not often heard-of skill of fettling.

"About eight years ago I was looking to have a bronze plaque made for the Jim Dunkley memorial tree plantings in Hampden. I called on a few foundries for some prices.

"I walked into the office of Giltech Precision Castings in Willowbank, Dunedin, and was hit by the familiar odour that is produced by fettling. It’s a unique smell, not unpleasant.

"It brought back memories of a brief period in my life when I worked in a foundry some 40 years previous.

"I must have made a comment on the distinctive smell to the woman at the counter. I remember her saying to me something like, ‘If you know what that smell is, there’s a job here for you. You can start now if you want!’

"Kind, but no, I didn’t want."

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