Huge Snowfalls in New Zealand
Huge Snowfalls in New Zealand
Published : 23-Jul-2017 08:26
The recent spate of snowy weather in much of New Zealand has been ratcheted up another notch with huge snowfalls at many of the country's ski areas over the first half of the weekend.
Ski areas reported up to 60cm of snow in 24 hours, with most getting at least 30cm and several now have base depths of 2m+
The big snow falls have brought to an end a patchy start to the season, particularly on the North island, where some centres had had to delay opening after an unusually warm and dry June and early July.
However all the snow has of course created logistical issues. After being closed for too little snow some areas had to close again as too much snow led to blocked access roads, buried ski lifts, power outages and high avalanche danger.
Since the snowfall stopped centres have been busy 'digging out' and making the slopes safe for skiers and boarders.
Mt Dobson (pictured above) reported one of the biggest snowfalls and has reached a 2.2m base with staff having to clear roads buried 1.2m (four feet) deep in snow. It expects to re-open tomorrow (Monday 24th July).
Another ski area, Roundhill, received about 1.5m (five feet) of snow in the storm.
It's currently peak school holiday season on New Zealand's slopes so continued operations are important for turnover. Last week several areas reported record numbers of skiers visiting and one had to close to private cars, only allowing arrivals by ski bus.
Along with lots of snow on ski slopes, New Zealand has had other forms of extreme weather with torrential rain at lower elevations leading to some flooding at Christchurch .
Temperatures are set to remain low for the week ahead and after a few blue sky days a fresh wave of snow is expected mid-week.
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