Snow dump hits parts of South Island, workers toil to reopen roads

A heavy dumping of snow prompted some road closures for parts of the South Island earlier today.

MetService lifted most of its watches and warnings issued over Labour Day early this morning, with just some snow watches and road snowfall warnings remaining in effect.

‘Can only get better’ – Wind-battered region dealt spring dump amid storm recovery

It reported earlier that Mount Cook had received about 20cm of snow last night, while Crown Range saw between 20 and 30cm and the Milford Rd saw 10cm of snow.

“As the day goes on, the Desert Rd will see up to 4cm of snow at the summit, through to 4pm. Similarly, Arthur’s and Lewis Passes will see between 6 and 10cm of snow above 600 metres until 4pm,” MetService said.

A 1News reporter in Dunedin said half-a-dozen cars had been stuck at Pine Hill overnight.

New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) confirmed four vehicles off the side of State Highway 1 in snow on the south side of Leith Saddle (north of Dunedin) were due to be towed out earlier this morning.

A spokesperson said this may mean some temporary disruption for traffic in this area.

“Additionally, due to a fire, State Highway 1 at Herbert, in Otago, is now closed. The highway is closed between Cullen and Ord Streets. Northbound traffic should turn left onto Cullen street, right onto Monk street, right onto Ord street and left back onto SH1. The reverse applies for southbound traffic,” NZTA said.

A farm at Tapanui on Oct 28 (Source: 1News)

Nearly 19,000 lightning strikes recorded across NZ

As of 10am today, MetService said “there were 18,782 lightning strikes reported across the country, many happening early in the morning as an active front passed over the North Island”.

“An unstable showery and snowy south to southwest flow dominates Aotearoa New Zealand today, with thunderstorms set to spark up in the afternoon in some parts,” the forecaster warned.

“Most of the unsettled weather will have passed by the end of today, with a mix of showers and sunshine through the rest of the week before more settled conditions arrive this weekend.”

MetService meteorologist Dom Barry said it would be a “chilly night ahead” for many South Island areas with most areas expected to drop to single digits.

“Lows of -1C for Timaru and Wānaka, and 0C for Christchurch will see the woolly blankets out again for sure!”

Looking ahead to Wednesday and Thursday, Barry said a ridge of high pressure would begin to take hold over the North Island with westerlies developing.

“This brings showers to western and southern parts of both islands throughout the day, which creep into the east and north of the North Island in the afternoon, while clearing in the west. It remains mainly fine elsewhere.

“Heading into Thursday, rain persists in the south and west of the South Island, while showers linger in the western North Island. But the sun is out in most other areas.”

Road closures

Snow near Ranfurly on Oct. 28 (Source: 1News)

Shortly after 4.40pm, NZTA said the final remaining closed highway, SH6 between Haast and Makarora, had been reopened.

“Road users are asked to take care when travelling this route, and others that were closed, due to snow and obstructions such as fallen trees.”

State Highway 94/Milford Sound Highway had reopened but would close again at 5pm today, with evening snow expected.

Power outages in Clutha

Speaking to Breakfast, Clutha District Council said it was managing a State of Emergency due to damaged roads and widespread power outages in the region.

PowerNet chief executive Paul Blue said as of 12pm today approximately 4800 customers in Southland and 1889 customers in Otago remained without power, hindered by cold and snowy conditions.

“Today’s weather is definitely adding another factor to our work, and we appreciate that this will also be adding to the stress of our customers without power,” he said.

“We are urging people without power who need support to reach out to their local Emergency Management teams.”

As of 5pm, PowerNet said 3900 customers in Southland and 1700 in South Otago remained without power.

Clutha District Council Group Controller Jules Witt and Clutha District Mayor-elect Jock Martin said some properties in Clutha could still be without power for another week. (Source: Breakfast)

Clutha District Council Group Controller Jules Witt and Clutha District Mayor-elect Jock Martin earlier told Breakfast some properties in Clutha might be without power for another week.

Martin said the community had supported one another in the wake of last week’s bad weather, including isolated and rural residents without power.

“The community has really banded together and set up pop-up community-led welfare centres in the middle of nowhere. The local fire brigades have opened up, so people can share, do their washing and so forth.

“So, yeah, that’s been very challenging times, to be quite honest, really challenging, but the community is banding together,” Martin said.

This afternoon, the council said there was slow progress being made.

“This is expected to slow down because the damage is so widespread throughout the district – power outages for remote areas could last weeks rather than days,” it wrote on its website.

“Many people will be feeling fatigued, and we are doing our level best to alleviate the discomfort and inconvenience, and we’re here to help.”