Icy blast packs tornados, rain and snow
The country was warned of the wild weather and yesterday morning the heavy snow, wind and rain was delivered right on schedule.
While the Waikato had showers with galeforce winds, the South Island received snow, there were tornados in National Park and Taranaki, flights and ferries were cancelled and there was thunder and lightning around the North Island.
There were cold temperatures overnight around the country, with snow expected on the Desert Road, showers across the North Island and isolated thunderstorms spread around the country for today.
MetService meteorologist April Clark said there would be snow over the Central Plateau last night which would likely affect Desert Rd and the Napier-Taupo¯ Rd (SH5).
She said it would be a windy night in Auckland but would ease off this morning and there would be thunderstorms on the East Coast of the North Island, upper South Island and Northland.
Rain will continue in Taranaki, Taihape and Wellington areas.
The West Coast of the South Island looks like the place to be on Wednesday, she said. ‘‘It will be fining up and clearing after having such strong winds on Tuesday. It will still be cold, but fine weather and not so much wind.’’
In the coastal Taranaki settlement of Rahotu a tornado damaged eight homes. In the rest of the region, the storm closed roads, schools, the airport and cut power to more than 12,000 properties. About 4000 properties were still without power at 2.30pm yesterday.
Snow and heavy rain have been falling over swathes of the country.
The MetService warned of snow, possibly as low as 300 metres in parts of Canterbury, along with heavy snow in the Kaiko¯ura Ranges and Canterbury Plains and High Country, as well as in Otago, Southland and Fiordland.
Road snow warnings have been issued for the high passes in the South Island and for the main highway from Dunedin to Waitati.
Early yesterday, the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) said Porters Pass on State Highway 73 in Canterbury was closed to towing vehicles because of snow, and chains were essential for other vehicles. It reopened to all vehicles in the afternoon.
NZTA warned of strong winds on SH6 from Ross to Haast on the West Coast.
Drivers in the central North Island were warned to be prepared for winter-like conditions over the next 24 hours.