Southerly storm lets farmers off lightly
Despite the wintry blast, Niwa predicted temperatures for coastal Canterbury and the high country in next three months to be above average.
Canterbury’s high country farmers seem to have dodged the worst of the wild weather of last week, with most of the snow falling on the eastern foothills of the Southern Alps.
Kirsty Williamson, who farms with her husband, Federated Farmers high country chairman Simon Williamson, near Twizel, said there had been little snow on their property.
The early winter weather had given them no problems. But stations further east might have had more snow, she said.
Willie Ensor, of Redcliffs Station in the Rakaia Gorge, said he had no snow on the lower reaches of the farm.
‘‘The snow all fell above 800 metres. It seems to have fallen more around the foothills as it often does,’’ he said. ‘‘There was snow right down onto Highway 72.
‘‘We had the shearers coming in a couple of days ago for crutching.
‘‘They couldn’t get through because of the snow.’’
Ensor said crutching had come to a halt until the sheep dried out.
‘‘The weather didn’t worry us – it hasn’t caused any difficulty with stock.
‘‘But it is reasonably unseasonal weather.
‘‘[Snowstorms] do come in April, not every year but they are not unheard of,’’ he said.
Mesopotamia Station owner Malcolm Prouting said there was not much snow in the upper Rangitata Gorge.
‘‘We got off lightly. There was more snow around the foothills. There was no snow on the ground.
‘‘It came down to about 3000 feet [800m]. There was no problem with stock.
‘‘We aren’t shearing – it’s all pretty simple up here.’’
Emily Murray of Glenmore Station in the Mackenzie Basin said that although the ground had been white with snow, it had thawed pretty quickly. ‘‘It always does in April. ‘‘It’s disappeared from around the house,’’ she said. ‘‘Tekapo had the same sort of cover as us – two or three inches [50-75 millimetres].
‘‘The men are on the autumn muster this week, and they had a hut day on Tuesday during the worst of it. It hasn’t been too disruptive.
Murray said Clayton Station at Fairlie was at a lower elevation than them and had snow on the ground.
‘‘Those forecasters, they blow it up, get pretty excited about it but to be honest I think the North Island got it worse than us.’’
Federated Farmers South Canterbury high country chairman Andrew Simpson, who lives in Tekapo, said they had ‘‘just a skiff’’ of snow on the ground. ‘‘It came down to about 700 metres on the hills out to the east.’’
Despite the wintry blast, Niwa predicted temperatures for coastal Canterbury and the high country in next three months to be above average.
Rainfall totals, soil moisture levels and river flows will be near average. Soil moisture levels were likely to be near normal.