Snow, chilly gales for holiday

Readers George Empson, Charlie Hobbs and Natalie Pompey provided images of yesterday’s storm.

Southerly blasts brought cold winds from Antarctica and a fresh dumping of snow to parts of South Canterbury for anniversary day, and the region can expect the single digit temperatures to continue.

Timaru had high temperatures of 19.4 and 19.3 degrees Celsius on Saturday and Sunday respectively with lows of 2.5C and 4.9C and just 1mm of rain recorded on Sunday.

However, it was a chilly start yesterday as south-westerly conditions brought a low of 0.5C to the town.

The Mackenzie Basin experienced a fresh dumping of snow overnight on Sunday as residents in Omarama, Twizel and Aoraki/ Mt Cook awoke to a blanket of it on South Canterbury Anniversary Day.

MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said several cold fronts, followed by an influx of frigid air, contributed to an unseasonably cold start to the week, bringing snow to many parts of the region.

Cold air pulled in from the Antarctic would continue to make its way up New Zealand, including South Canterbury on today, she said.

Strong wind warnings were in place with gusts reaching 120kmh, especially north of Aoraki/Mt Cook over the weekend, while the remainder of Canterbury remained under a strong wind watch.

The MetService advised strong wind gusts could damage trees, power lines and unsecured structures while driving could be hazardous, especially for highsided vehicles and motorcycles.

’’Looking at Tuesday, southwesterly winds and early showers are forecast in South Canterbury before mainly fine conditions in the second half of the day,’’ Makgabutlane said.

’’South Canterbury can expect single digit temperatures on Tuesday.’’

While Tekapo’s Roundhill ski area, Mt Dobson ski area, near Burkes Pass and Fox Peak Ski Area, about 30 kilometres from Fairlie have closed for the season, Ohau Snow Fields owner/operator Mike Neilson said he hoped a fresh dumping of about 20 centimetres overnight would translate into a good first week of the school holidays for the field.

‘‘It’s the sort of weather you pray for in June.’’

At Aoraki/Mt Cook, resident Charlie Hobbs said 27 centimetres of snow had fallen in the village overnight on Sunday with snowfall ‘‘picking up and intensifying’’ as the southerlies set in.

Twizel resident Jacqui de Buyzer awoke to snowfall at 8am on Monday.

The temperature dropped throughout the morning as the snowfall got heavier late in the morning, she said.

‘‘It’s been a long time since we’ve seen snow at this time of year.’’

At the Omarama Top 10 Holiday Park, owner Amanda Chapman said snow was ‘‘very thick’’ at 10am on Monday.

Chapman said visibility was ‘‘quite poor’’ after snow started falling at 9am on Monday.

‘‘To get snow settling at this time of year is unusual, we are prepared, keeping people warm is the main thing.’’

‘‘To get snow settling at this time of year is unusual, we are prepared, keeping people warm is the main thing.’’ Amanda Chapman Omarama holiday park owner

Above, spring turns to winter at Lake Tekapo while at right is snow in the Mt Cook Village (top) and the storm approaching across Lake Tekapo on Sunday afternoon. Below left is another scene from Mt Cook Village while at right is a combination picture from Omarama showing the same scene taken 15 minutes apart as snow falls in the township.