Winter’s here: Ferry crossings canned amid monster swells, motorists rescued from snow

Different parts of the country have recorded snow, hailstorms and strong winds bringing on big swells, sub-zero temperatures and disruption to sea and land travellers.

As of 1.45pm, State Highway 8 between Fairlie and Twizel was closed, NZTA posted on X.

SH73 Springfield to Arthur’s Pass village was open but chains were essential and the road was closed to towing vehicles.

In North Canterbury, the Lewis Pass (SH7) between Hanmer Springs and Springs Junction was now fully open, NZTA wrote.

‘It’s going to be real cold’

Temperatures at Dunedin Airport and Tekapō dropped to -5C – the coldest reported overnight – while Christchurch recorded -1C.

Meanwhile, other South Island residents awoke to no power and near sub-zero temperatures.

“In simple terms, it’s going to be real cold,” MetService meteorologist Samkelo Magwala told the Herald.

A cold wave from the Southern Ocean has led to road snowfall warnings on multiple mountain passes, heavy snow down as far as 300m, gales and warnings of 6m swells in Cook Strait.

As well as today’s cancelled inter-island sailings, Bluebridge also cancelled a sailing for tomorrow morning, with a heavy swell warning in place until 6am Sunday for the coast around Wellington.

Freezing temperatures

Hail joined single-digit temperatures across Wellington this morning.

The average maximum temperature around the country today is tipped to barely reach 12C, and with a fresh dumping of snow last night, the frigid temperatures are set to linger.

Auckland has a forecast of showers with possible thunderstorms and hail in the morning, but MetService said this should clear in the afternoon. The city had a forecast high of 13C and a 5C low.

Queenstown, meanwhile, had a forecast low of -5C tomorrow and a predicted high of 4C. Christchurch’s high was tipped to reach 6C and the Garden City’s low should hit 0C.

Even in the North Island, Rotorua had a forecast low temperature of -2C, Hamilton was expected to drop to -1C and Taupō to -2C.

MetService forecast snow in the morning in Christchurch down to 500m, which could leave a light dusting on the Port Hills where the highest point is 573m at Coopers Knob.

An orange heavy snowfall warning for inland Canterbury overnight had also prompted warnings for the rest of the day, with MetService saying the dumping could disrupt travel and damage trees and powerlines.

“Snow will continue to fall over the mountains and surrounding areas throughout the day,” MetService said.

The freezing start to the day was even cooler for residents around Fairlie, who also have had to contend with a power cut.

The snowfall overnight and this morning was hugely welcomed by the Mt Hutt ski field who recorded 90cm of snow.

“Name a better sight to wake up to.. we’ll wait,” a post on the ski field’s social account with photos of the snowfall read.

The snowfall stranded several motorists who were helped by the Lake Tekapo Volunteer Fire Brigade.

On Friday night, its first rescue was after a grader rolled off of its transporter. The brigade then came to the help of several other motorists caught out by the snow.

Temperatures sit around 0C this morning in the area, with Alpine Energy saying an “unplanned outage” was affecting Fairlie, Albury, Cave, Middle Valley and Opuha.

Alpine Energy said there were initially 296 customers who lost power due to “weather-related outages”.

By 11am more than 240 had been restored.

“The team are aiming to complete repairs later this afternoon to reconnect the remaining 54 customers. “

Lewis Pass, State Highway 7, Arthurs Pass and Porters Pass, both SH73, Haast Pass, SH6, Lindis Pass, SH8, the Crown Range Rd, Milford Rd, SH94, and the Dunedin to Waitai Highway, SH1, had snowfall warnings, all set to lapse by 8am today.

Magwala said the snowfall would likely linger and take time to melt with cloud cover expected about the South Island today.

“Other than that, there will be occasional showers on most of the North Island, especially upper and eastern areas, with some occasional showers in the Canterbury and Otago regions.”

The North Island was also expected to see some snow, with a snowfall warning for the Desert Rd (SH1) for between 5am and 3pm.

NZTA Waka Kotahi has warned drivers to expect dangerous conditions on the roads during the next five days.

“Please take extra care…our crews will be ploughing, gritting and applying CMA, but please slow down and drive with extra care.”

Queenstown Lakes District Council warned, as of 7.45pm last night, Crown Range Rd drivers would need tyre chains.

“Please follow the Variable Message Systems (VMS) board and road crew instructions.

“The road is open, but the conditions are difficult to drive in. We’ll update this status as things progress.”

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.

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