Newspaper Article 2015 – Snow falls on beach as cold snap hits suburbs

Snow falls on beach as cold snap hits suburbs

By Doug Laing
[email protected]

Napier residents were yesterday trying to remember the last time snow fell down to sea level.

Snow was reported on the beach at Whirinaki, just north of Napier, and in city suburbs, as the temperature plummeted from an overnight low of 5C at Hawke’s Bay Airport to 1.6C by 8am.

Whirinaki Beach resident Daniel Frame, whose work sometimes takes him to Ohakune, where snow is more likely, described what he saw yesterday in sunny Hawke’s Bay as “insane”.

“It was what I’d call a dusting of snow, but the cool part was seeing it on the beach,” he said. “You could see the steam coming off the ocean, as the really cold air met the sea.”

Snow was reported across the suburbs of Napier, with heavier falls inland where it closed the Napier-Taihape Rd, and two schools.

There were no disruptions on State Highway 5 between Napier and Taupo. Falls were reported from Central Hawke’s Bay to Putere, west of the Napier-Wairoa Rd settlement of Raupunga in northern Hawke’s Bay.

It came with a southwesterly front, but by mid-morning it was sunny in most areas of Hawke’s Bay, and temperatures were heading back to to the day’s forecast high of 14C.

Estimates of when snow had last been seen in some of the areas varied from “sometime in the last 10 years” at Whirinaki and Bay View, to “this is only the second time in 28 years” – the words of Dartmoor orchardist and Hawke’s Bay Fruitgrowers president Lesley Wilson. Her mother recalled a now-departed Taradale resident telling her of snow falling in 1954.

Senior Sergeant Clint Adamson experienced a “first” when he saw snow falling outside his Eastern District command centre office, barely 100m from Napier’s Marine Parade.

He said “to everyone’s credit” there hadn’t been any issues with driving in the conditions which were at their worst about the time many would have been travelling to work or school.

Mr Adamson said motorists appeared to be respecting the conditions. Winter signage had been put in place on the Napier-Taupo highway, and police would continue to patrol the road, although conditions were clearing.

Kereru School principal Chris Birch had no hesitation making the call to close his school west of Hastings as snow began falling yesterday morning.

He said it “wasn’t that cold” when he got up, but when he saw snow building up on a skylight he knew it was time to act.

“It would be too risky for the school bus on the roads, so the kids can have a snow day.”

Snow remained on the ground around the district into the afternoon, but the school, with a principal, one other teacher and 26 pupils, was expected to be able to open again tomorrow.

Overnight wind and rain and this morning’s brief snow resulted in power cuts in some “higher-up” rural areas.

Unison Networks customer relations manager Danny Gough said “a few hundred” customers had supply cuts.

“But I think it’s all done and dusted now, pretty well everyone will be back on,” he said late yesterday morning.

Photo captions –

SHROUD: Snow covers a garden in Tikokino. PHOTO/SARAH HARRISON

HAVING FUN: Children travelling from Hamilton take time out to play in the snow on the Napier-Taupo road. PHOTO/PAUL TAYLOR

MAKING MARK: Taylor Bremner decided to make a snow angel on the Napier-Taihape Rd. PHOTO/SUZ BREMNER

PLAYGROUND: Leo, 18 months, enjoys his first snow experience, on the Napier-Taupo Rd. PHOTO/HANNAH CROSKERY