Cold snap brings four seasons in a day to Canterbury

Wednesday, 2 October 2019

Mia Chapman, 14, wears a snowball from her brother, Jonty, 10, at Porters Pass in Canterbury on Wednesday. Their sister Elle, 17, is on the left.

From one minute to the next, Cantabrians couldn't be sure what kind of weather to expect on Wednesday as snow, rain and sun hit the region.

One Christchurch family experienced all four seasons in a day – snow high in the mountain passes then sun and rain back at home.

Mia Chapman, 14, throws a snowball at brother Jonty, 10.

Christchurch children Elle, Mia and Jonty Chapman travelled to Arthur's Pass on Wednesday to find snow.

They ventured to the top of Porters Pass for a snow fight.

Mia Chapman, 14, wears a snowball from her brother, Jonty, 10, as 17-year-old Elle watches from the left.

Snow on Torlesse Range in Canterbury on Wednesday.

* Snow, heavy rain and plummeting temperatures forecast across South Island

* Get ready for sleet on your doorstep, snow to sea level in Canterbury

Snow and ice affects Lindis Pass (SH8) on Wednesday morning, with drivers warned to drive to the conditions and take extra care until it has cleared.

* Cold snap to bring heavy snow to SI high country, could have 'quite an affect' on alpine passes**

Their mother, Sara Chapman, said it was 'pretty much four seasons in one day'.

'We just tried our luck, and [snow] came through quite thick,' she said. The family made it to the Arthur's Pass township.

They were stuck for about 20 minutes on the way home due to traffic restrictions on the pass.

State Highway 7 (SH7) was closed for several hours between the Hanmer Turnoff and Springs Junction on Wednesday.

SH73 from Springfield to Arthur's Pass was closed to towing vehicles for several hours, while chains were essential for all other vehicles.

Snow and ice also affected the Lindis Pass (SH8).

On the West Coast, a short detour is in place at Omoto overnight after an active slip between Greymouth and Stillwater moved another 300 millimetres from 8am Wednesday.

The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) said the slip kept moving through the day due to heavy rain.

A detour is in place via Taylorville on the north side of the Grey River, adding a few minutes to the overall journey between Reefton and Greymouth on SH7, NZTA West Coast maintenance contract manager Moira Whinham said.

Kaiata residents will need to loop back to Stillwater to get to Greymouth overnight. The road will be reassessed at 10am on Thursday.

Many Canterbury skifields were closed on Wednesday, but Mt Hutt was lucky enough to stay open.

On Facebook, the skifield called Wednesday a 'surprise powder day' with about 15 centimetres of snow.

Mt Hutt ski area manager James McKenzie said it was uncommon to get so much snow near the end of the season, set to finish on October 13.

'It breathes another lease of life into the skifield as we're tracking towards our closing,' he said.

Snow hit the skifield over about four hours from 9am on Wednesday.

'It's been pretty snowy, pretty cloudy to be fair. The visibility hasn't been great, the weather that's been coming through has been pulsing, the wind's been reasonably strong on the top,' McKenzie said.

The skifield had to close the road to the public a few times on Wednesday so heavy machinery could clear snow.

'We're pleased that we're getting some snow and we're going to have some fine weather to enjoy after it,' he said.

Metservice meteorologist Tui McInnes said the front in Christchurch was 'packing a bit of a punch'.

'We've had this southerly front that's gone up the country and that's what went through Christchurch. It was timed just a bit after sunrise.

'The weather turns in an instant and that's because beforehand, there were northerlies so the Southern Alps were acting to keep everything clear and just make this beautiful, nice morning in Christchurch.

'The actual substance to the front was quite short lived, it only lasted a few hours after which things started to clear up.'

Christchurch also experienced a mix of blue skies and short showers on Wednesday afternoon. Blue skies happened as cold air moved down after the front moved through. When the air moved up, there were showers.

Most of New Zealand can expect fine weather on Thursday – except those furtherest souh.

'If you're down south, it's more likely to be cloudy and showery,' McInnes said.

'It's just like the far south being the bow of the ship – unfortunately they take the brunt of it – they're exposed to the showery conditions.'

The same is expected for the upper North Island.