Newspaper Article 1994 – Snow closes roads, schools

Snow closes roads, schools

By Terry Tacon
Staff reporter, Hastings

Roads were closed, vehicles trapped and schools closed by the most widespread snow in years in Hawke’s Bay today.

Places where snow usually falls during winter reported coverings of up to five centimetres, while falls were seen in areas which had not had snow for about seven years, including Mount Erin and Kahuranaki.

Hardest hit by the blizzard conditions, which began about 2.30am, was the Napier-Taupo road, which was impassable within half an hour, trapping more than 25 vehicles, mostly heavy trucks.

Alan McVicar, who runs Summit Towing at Tiniroto with partner Wayne Cheer, went to the aid of the truckies stranded at Titiokura and Turangakumu this morning and found them in good spirits.

“The ones at Titiokura had built a big fire and were all crowded around it keeping warm,” he said.

Mr McVicar collected the drivers and took them to the Summit Kiosk at Tiniroto for breakfast.

Urgent lift

A more urgent lift was provided by a Works Civil Construction supervisor for a courier driver trapped on the northern side of Titiokura after it was found the man was running short of medication for a diabetic condition.

Napier manager of Works Civil Construction, John Patten, said the call was relayed by police and the supervisor, in a four-wheel-drive vehicle, reached the site and drove the man to Te Pohue where his parents were waiting with the necessary medication.

Mr Patten said a team moved into the area about 4am to begin snow clearing and while initial progress had been good, conditions became extremely icy after dawn and he did not expect the road to be passable until mid-afternoon.

The Napier-Wairoa road was reported by the Automobile Association as icy, but it was not closed. However, drivers were being advised to use extreme care, especially on the Devil’s Elbow section.

Heavy falls

The Napier-Taihape road was closed by heavy snow on the Gentle Annie section beyond Kuripapango. Heavy falls were reported throughout the foothills of the Kaweka and Ruahine ranges, five centimetres of snow around the Department of Conservation field centre at Puketitiri, 875 metres above sea level.

At Patoka, where the school was one of a number in the region closed for the day, storekeeper Jo Bonner reported the heaviest fall of snow in the five years she had been there.

“Two years ago there was snow up to the doorstep, but nothing like this. Everything is covered and it looks like an English winter scene,” she said.

More than five centimetres of snow fell at Kereru School, the heaviest fall since 1987.

Further south, Fiona Hudson at Gwavas Station reported a wintry scene outside her kitchen window, with the fall the heaviest since 1991. Mrs Hudson estimated it was a one centimetre to two centimetre covering. A concern for Mrs Hudson and husband John was the weight of snow on a marque set up for a field day at the station tomorrow, but it had come through the incident unscathed.

Joanne Milne, wife of the manager of Mount Erin Station, said the fall on Mount Erin appeared to be the heaviest since one about 12 years ago. Mrs Milne said the covering was even heavier on Kahuranaki, across the Tukituki valley from Mount Erin. Snow was a rarity on Mount Erin, Mrs Milne said, with the last fall – a light dusting – being about seven years ago.

While the Ruahine foothills were predictably snow covered in Central Hawke’s Bay this morning, it was also falling at Cook’s Tooth on the Porangahau coast. The mid-morning fall blocked out Cook’s Tooth Rd resident Sue Stoddart’s sea view. It was the first snow in the area for more than five years, Mrs Stoddart said.

Further south at Dannevirke, snow covered the ground at Umutaoroa, only two kilometres from town. It was also lying on the Puketoi range to the east toward Weber. Roads were not affected, Constable Bill Bryce said.

Norsewood farmer Rose Galloway said the sudden onset would have caught people unprepared. There were usually two falls a year in the Ngamoko area west of Norsewood, but not as early, Mrs Galloway said.

The Tourere hills south-east of Takapau were also snow covered. To the north, snow fell as low as Tikokino village during the night, but did not settle.

The foothills behind Ongaonga were covered, with residents reporting an earlier fall than usual, although most expect snow at some stage during the winter.

The MetService said the worst effects of the severe winter storm should be over by this afternoon.

Spokesman Augie Auer said today the depression had come straight off the Antarctic coast.

“It just came straight off the ice shelf and pretty much made a beeline for New Zealand.”

Front sweeps NZ

NZPA   Wellington

A polar front plunged the country into winter today, cutting roads and keeping children and workers at home.

Commuters abandoned their vehicles in Christchurch and Dunedin this morning as snowfalls blanketed hill suburbs. Dunedin police said people trying to travel to work from the surrounding hill suburbs had to leave their cars and walk. Police urged others to stay at home and keep their children out of school. Some country schools in Otago were closed.

Photo captions –

Tirowhenua Station owner Peter Kay musters sheep to move them from their snow-bound paddock at Kereru, 600 metres above sea level.

Children at Kereru School, 40km west of Hastings, play in the snow this morning.

Photos: Tim Whittaker