Wild winter weather

[MotherBear]

Snow blankets Christchurch
New 10:11AM Saturday August 09, 2008

Heavy snow blanketed Christchurch today as the winter cold continued to be felt across both the North and South Islands.

Snow began falling in Christchurch about 7am today and covered most of the city.

Tony Stuart, who lives on the Cashmere Hills, said it was very cold in the city and the snow was about 20mm deep on the deck around his house.

"You look around and it is just white.

"It is very heavy snowflakes but before that it was quite flaky."

He said the snow had not caused any access problems but Christchurch people were tired of the winter.

"I have had a bloody gutsful of the weather," he said.

In the North Island snow closed Rimutaka Hill between Upper Hutt and Wairarapa.

Police said snow began to fall heavily about 7.40am and the road was closed 20 minutes later.

The MetService said snow showers were expected on the road until early tomorrow morning.

Another 2-4cm was likely to fall before 6am, and the MetService warned that 8cm could fall in some places.

Snow was also likely to fall on the Desert road until early tomorrow, with 1-3cm expected.

In the South Island, snow was likely to fall on the Lewis and Porters Pass roads until this evening.

- NZPA

From here.

[MotherBear]

Snow dump creates problems for North too
Monday, 18 August 2008

The North Island is now feeling the effects of the huge snow dump which has created hazardous conditions in the Southern Alps.

The Department of Conservation has issued avalanche warnings for the Tongariro National Park, including the popular Tongariro Crossing walking track.

While avalanche control work is carried out on ski areas, it is not undertaken elsewhere in the national park.

DOC is warning alpine trampers to be particularly cautious and make sure they get up-to-date avalanche information before heading out.

"As well as being well equipped and experienced in alpine conditions, anyone going into back country areas of Tongariro National Park, including the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, should be aware that there are avalanche hazards," said DOC Turangi Taupo area manager Dave Lumley.

On the alpine crossing, the area between Blue Lake and Ketetahi Hut was a well-recognised avalanche area where particular care was needed in the current conditions, he said.

Trampers are advised to consult avalanche information website Avalanche.Net for up-to-date details on avalanche risks around the country. Many parts are rated as high risk.

DOC's warning follows a rough weekend in the South Island where nine people were rescued from mountain areas which were hazardous, and alpine safety experts have spoken out about foolhardy expeditions into the backcountry.

A group of Australian tourists stranded in blizzard conditions in Aoraki-Mount Cook National Park on Saturday were "typically ill-prepared", New Zealand Land Search and Rescue spokesman Phil Melchior said.

Inexperienced alpine tourists were an ongoing problem here and accounted for 30 per cent of back country fatalities, he said.

"People come to New Zealand and don't understand just how fast the weather can change."

The six Australian tourists were trapped for 36 hours by a blizzard which triggered avalanches and threatened to sweep them away.

They had no guide, avalanche beacons or probes, snow shoes or skis and only one shovel between them.

"They are extremely lucky to be alive in the circumstances, the chances of the rescue party finding six corpses were at least as high as finding six live people."

Mountain Safety Council avalanche programme manager Steve Schreiber said the tourists were foolish and needlessly endangered the lives of their rescuers.

Mountaineers needed to take more responsibility for their own safety instead of expecting to be bailed out, he said.

In the second incident of the weekend, three men were caught in an avalanche while heli-skiing on Temple Peak, near Glenorchy, Otago.

A man in his mid-30s was buried under about 2m of snow after the party was struck by an avalanche at 3.50pm yesterday.

The trio was airlifted from the peak and taken to Lakes District Hospital at Queenstown.

The man buried in the snow was today in a stable condition with suspected hypothermia.

The group had defied safety warnings and risked both their own lives and those of rescuers, say police.

Mr Schreiber said people should stay off steep terrain – anything above 30 degrees in angle – in the current mountain conditions.

- NZPA

From here.

[MotherBear]

Our hazy shade of winter
5:00AM Sunday August 24, 2008
By Michelle Coursey


A weekend of freezing temperatures brought snow to the central North Island and caused the closure of roads around Mt Ruapehu. Photo / Sarah Ivey

If you reckon winter's been wetter than normal you're right. Parts of New Zealand were doused with more than double the average rainfall in July and meteorologists said this month had been more of the same.

It's been gloomier too, with much of the country receiving less sunshine than normal in July and August.

But in severity, MetService weather ambassador Bob McDavitt compared the last three months to an Olympic also-ran. "In a medal table, this year's winter wouldn't even get on the dais," he said.

According to Niwa's national climate centre, Marlborough, Canterbury and eastern Otago had twice as much rain as usual in July.

Westland, Tasman and most of the North Island had about 150 per cent of normal rainfall.

More here.

[MotherBear]

Blue skies on the way for next weekend
5:00AM Monday August 25, 2008
By Juliet Rowan


Tamaki Drive was flooded yesterday. Photo / Martin Sykes

Good news is on the horizon for those who feel they can't endure another rainy weekend.

The MetService says next weekend is likely to be fine in much of the country, including Auckland, which has not had a dry weekend since May.

"By the standards of what we've had over the last month or two, it's looking terrific," severe-weather forecaster Erick Brenstrum said.

He said Auckland was likely to benefit from an anticyclone forecast to cross the country on Saturday.

"The best way to get good weather in New Zealand is to have the wind cross the nearest mountain range before it gets to you, then any showers or cloud gets dumped in the mountains," he said.

"The reason we can look at Auckland and be reasonably optimistic about next weekend is we're looking at the likelihood of south or southeast winds blowing across the North Island."

He said showers were possible in eastern areas from Gisborne to Wairarapa, and maybe Wellington as the winds crossed the ranges but conditions were also likely to clear in those areas on Sunday.

More here.