Southland wakes to snow as cold snap arrives

Wednesday, 12 July 2017

Cold comfort for builders to be working on this Te Anau house after overnight snow.

Southland residents have woken to snow in many parts of the region, while Invercargill received a coating of hail.

Gore resident John Coxshall said there was at least 2-3 inches of snow on the ground in the eastern Southland town, and it was still snowing about 9am.

After a fall of snow, it's hard to tell the difference between water and land at Lake Te Anau. This yacht appears to be sitting on the land.

According to MetService, Gore spent the night at about 0 degrees Celsius, and was expected to reach 2C by midday.

Similarly, Lumsden's overnight temperature was about 0C, and was expected to reach 2C by 2pm.

Gore residents woke to 2-3 inches of snow.

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While Invercargill missed out on the snow, hail settled on the ground and made driving treacherous in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Snow was falling in Fernhill, Queenstown early on Wednesday morning.

The city had a slightly warmer night than other towns in the region, at a temperature of about 2C, with a high for the day of 7C predicted.

Temperatures in Te Anau struggled to reach positive figures at the start of the day, with the temperature at -3 degrees Celsius at 8am, but expected to climb to -1C by 10am.

Dozens of cars are stuck on Dunedin's Stuart St as snow falls to sea level in the city.

Metservice predicted Te Anau would finally reach 1C by midday.

MULTIPLE CRASHES

Meanwhile, the snow and chilly start effected roads throughout the region.

A police spokeswoman said several crashes had been reported.

A driver crashed their car into a fence in icy conditions on McIvor Rd, north of Invercargill, about 6am.

About 6.40am on Lochiel Bridge Rd, north of the city, a car slid off the road and into a ditch.

The second crash was reported about 6.40am on Lochiel Bridge Rd North of Invercargill.

A third crash was reported just before 7am on Duke St in Invercargill.

A car had crashed into another car leaving one lane of the street partially blocked, the spokeswoman said.

One person was taken to Southland Hospital with minor injuries, she said.

ROAD WARNINGS

State Highway 93, between Mataura and Clinton, was closed due to the snow.

The Gore District Council had closed sports fields in the district, and warned motorists to take care.

'At this stage there are no road closures in the district, except SH93, however extreme caution is advised. Snow is still falling in Gore,' the council said on its' Facebook page.

'Our roading guys report extremely slippery conditions around Gore and unfortunately some people are driving quite recklessly. The hill areas are quite bad so please take an easier route into town if possible. We are gritting the streets but won't be able to get to some areas.'

Similarly, the Southland District Council urged residents to take care on social media.

'Please be wary of road conditions today. There appears to be a blanket of snow north of Dipton and a general warning is being issued across all Southland for snow and ice on roads.

'Drive to the conditions. Areas in Wyndham and Mataura Island have packed-in snow which means no traction for vehicles.

'If you do not have to go out onto the road today, it is advised that you do not. We are due for more rain, hail and sleet and this could cause incidents on Southland roads.'

NZ Transport Agency Southland maintenance contract manager Josh Webb said the highway crews snow-ploughed through the night on SH6 Jollies Hill between Five Rivers and Garston and SH94 Gorge Hill between Mossburn and Te Anau, where it had not stopped snowing since Tuesday.

'Crews have concentrated on keeping SH1 connecting Invercargill north open and we closed SH93 Mataura to Clinton around midnight with a manned checkpoint.'