Skiers aim to beat the rain
Settled weather not expected to last with downpours on the way
Skifields are making the best of the good weather before it deteriorates later this week — and at least one has set a record. Cardrona near Queenstown had its busiest day ever yesterday as more than 5500 people flocked to the mountain after an unexpected 20cm of snow fell on Monday.
In the North Island, Turoa also had a dusting of snow on Monday night, adding to the 50cm-plus from last week’s snowstorm and delighting kids still on school holidays.
Fairly settled weather should continue today for the upper North Island, with gentle breezes and highs around 16-17C, MetService forecaster Peter Little said.
The lower North Island can expect the odd shower from Levin through to Wellington today, with similarly mild temperatures.
WeatherWatch said gusty northwesterlies would pick up through Cook Strait, while light frosts were expected inland in the South Island before a reasonably fine day.
But tomorrow heavy rainfall is forecast for parts of the North Island, including Taihape, drenching rural areas that have now gone a whole week without power.
With one more day of good weather, Powerco crews will be pushing to reconnect about 900 customers in the Central Plateau who are still without power after last week’s storm.
Network operations manager Phil Marsh said today would be a huge day for crews working in remote areas around Taihape and Rangitikei.
He hoped most remaining cus- tomers would have power “in the next few days” though some pockets would take longer to reconnect.
Helicopters were bringing more than 70 poles and kilometres of line into the Central Plateau area, after the massive snowfall brought down a huge swathe of the network.
MetService has issued a severe weather outlook as a “large, complex low pressure system” comes in from the Tasman Sea.
By tomorrow rain is expected across the North Island, with the Gisborne ranges across to Taihape and Taranaki directly in the firing line.
MetService said there was “moderate confidence” that rain would reach warning levels in the region, while WeatherWatch said the heaviest falls were likely about the Bay of Plenty and East Cape.
Severe northerly gales are also possible in exposed places tomorrow and early Friday.
WeatherWatch said strong winds could cause delays for smaller aircraft at airports such as Gisborne or Tauranga. As part of our Terrible Film Festival we ask: Has Gigli improved with age? (The answer is no). Daniel McHardy chats with Ryan Fox ahead of this weekend’s British Open.