Most South Island state highways have reopened on Thursday after a wintry blast brought snow, severe gales hammered Auckland, and hundreds of lightning strikes cracked over the North and South islands overnight.
In Southland, State Highway 94 (SH94) from Te Anau to Milford was expected to reopen at 2.30 pm on Thursday after being closed due to avalanche risk and snowfall. It was expected to remain open overnight.
Two other southern highways were shut but have since reopened. SH1 from Dunedin to Waitati reopened after closure due to black ice. SH87 in Otago was shut due to snow but reopened mid-morning on Thursday. Over the country, MetService issued snowfall warnings for six highways: Napier-Taupo Rd, Desert Rd, Lewis Pass, Arthur’s Pass, Milford Rd and Dunedin to Waitati.
MetService said snow would affect higher roads and passes in central and southern New Zealand. The heaviest snowfall was expected in Fiordland, where a heavy snow watch was in force. Snow would fall to about 100 metres and was expected to rise above 500m on Thursday morning.
There was a strong wind watch in place for much of the North Island as well as the South Island near Christchurch and south of Dunedin. The Christchurch Transport Operations Centre (CTOC) issued a strong wind warning to motorists travelling along Canterbury and Otago highways early on Thursday afternoon.
CTOC said strong winds could affect those travelling in high-sided vehicles and motorcycles along SH7 (Hanmer turnoff to Springs Junction), SH1 (Dunedin to Palmerston) and SH90 (Raes Junction to McNab). The wild weather had caused trees to fall overnight in Auckland, brought down power lines and sent a trampoline flying, Fire and Emergency New Zealand shift commander Daniel Nicholson said.
The weather also prompted the NZ Transport Agency to issue a strong wind warning for motorcycles and high-sided vehicles travelling over Auckland’s Harbour Bridge. There were 832 lightning strikes recorded over both land and sea in the 24 hours from 8.15 am on Wednesday, according to MetService. Of those, 368 occurred over land.
However, the situation was calmer on Thursday with Aucklanders due for a high of 16 degrees Celsius and the odd shower. Showers in Wellington would clear in the morning, but there could be showers scattered in the afternoon with a high of 14C. In Christchurch, cloud and occasional showers were expected with a high of 16C.
Source: Stuff
Featured Image: Snow in the Canterbury town of Springfield. Photo / Stuff
