From:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydispl...section=news&t
hesubsection=general

Southerly brings snow and ice

07.07.2003
By ROSALEEN MACBRAYNE and NZPA

From freezing dips in Auckland to strandings on the Desert Rd - and snow in
Napier - the weekend weather gripped the country.

At the height of the storm, 10,000 homes in the central North Island were
without power.

Here's the winter snap at a glance:

Northland and Auckland: Escaped lightly compared with the rest of the
country.

Whangarei, hit by some hail on Saturday, reached a low of 4C on Saturday.
The usually sunny Bay of Islands hit 5C early yesterday.

Aucklanders shivered through their coldest day of the year on Saturday with
a day-time high of 10C - but that was reached before 1pm. It was all
downhill from there, plummeting to 6C by nightfall as rain fell.

The city started the day on a chilly 4C just after sunrise.

Waikato and Bay of Plenty: A wet Hamilton only got to 9C on Saturday and the
same yesterday.

The main problem for the Bay of Plenty was the closure of State Highway 2
from Opotiki to Gisborne, through the Waioweka Gorge.

It opened yesterday but authorities said snow could close it again
overnight.

Gisborne: Around Wairoa and Gisborne 2000 homes were without power yesterday
after snow and strong winds brought down lines. The road between Gisborne
and Opotiki was closed.

Hawkes Bay: The east coast bore the brunt of the cold snap, with snow down
to sea level.

By yesterday, temperatures had begun to rise, hitting 8C at Napier.

Hundreds of people trapped by snow around Dannevirke on Saturday spent the
night with locals or huddled in halls with few blankets and little food. The
Napier-Taihape road, SH41, was still closed last night.

Central Plateau: Most main roads were closed for at least part of the
weekend, including the Desert Rd.

Truckers were forced to spend Friday night in their cabs on the Desert Rd
and 40 vehicles were trapped late on Saturday.

Stranded travellers were looked after at Waiouru (temperature yesterday:
1C), including 40 children from a bus that got stuck at Taihape.

Turoa ski field reported 10cm of snow and a -30C wind chill factor.

Manawatu: Snow made roads impassable and closed the Manawatu Gorge.

Wairarapa: Power cuts were widespread in the Wairarapa, Wanganui and
Taranaki areas. Engineers were still struggling late yesterday to restore
electricity to remote areas.

Wellington: Wellington was fine and clear yesterday, reaching 9C after a
howling southerly on Saturday night. The ferry Aratere collided with a
fishing boat during the storm and 20,000 litres of diesel poured into
Wellington Harbour.

The Rimutaka Hill road between Upper Hutt and Featherston was closed after
35cm of snow fell and a race meeting at Trentham was abandoned.

Canterbury: Conditions were treacherous on State Highway 1 between
Christchurch and Kaikoura, where snow fell to sea level on Friday night. The
two main passes between Christchurch and the West Coast, Lewis and Arthurs,
were closed until yesterday.

Much of Canterbury was coated in snow, with 30cm falling at Darfield in the
north of the province, 25cm at Fairlie in the south and Ashburton in
Mid-Canterbury getting at least 19cm.

Mt Hutt skifield was closed by whiteout conditions.

Otago: Although the sun came out yesterday there was plenty of snow lying
around Dunedin. In shadier hill suburbs, sheets of ice made streets too
dangerous to drive on.

Elsewhere in the province, Alexandra woke to -7C, Wanaka -6C and
Queenstown -4C, followed by a fine Sunday.

Southland: After a treacherous Friday night and Saturday morning, there was
little snow around Invercargill by yesterday afternoon. But ice was still a
problem on the roads.

Latest forecasts: nzherald.co.nz/weather

"Dr. Convection" <Convection@convection.ca> wrote in message
news:Or1Oa.400048$Vi5.10320520@news1.calgary.shaw. ca...
> From:
>
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydispl...section=news&t
> hesubsection=general
>
> Southerly brings snow and ice

Mr. Confection. Get a clue. It is winter in NZ and this is normal weather!