Snow dump: a welcome start for skiers and snowboarders during the school holidays

This week’s weather bomb is a bright start to the school holidays for kiwi skiers, southern skifield operators say.

So much snow fell in Queenstown that a man left his home, hopped on his snowboard and headed into town on Monday.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was trapped in Invercargill after flights were canceled due to snow.

The Labor leader and her entourage were traveling to Dunedin to try to get a flight to Auckland, a spokesperson said, as flights from Invercargill had been canceled due to snow.

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The snow came from a “weather bomb” or “cyclone bomb,” which brought spring snow to parts of the South Island.

This type of storm occurs when low pressure strengthens at a rate of 24 hectopascals (hPa) in 24 hours, according to Niwa. Hectopascals is the unit used to measure the range of naturally occurring air pressures in the atmosphere.

Cardrona general manager Bridget Legnasky said about 16 inches of fresh snow had fallen in the field near Wānaka on Monday and there could be more.

“It’s absolutely brilliant. We couldn’t think of anything better,” he said.

The weather is forecast to improve starting Wednesday and there will be some great spring skiing, he said.

Cardrona and the nearby Remarkables ski area were closed on Monday due to the large snow dump and strong winds.

Remarkables ski area manager Ross Lawrence said about 20 inches of new snow fell on the field in the past 36 hours, and he expected more.

Canterbury’s Mt Hutt Ski Area Manager James McKenzie said the mountain had had about 4 inches of fresh snow by Monday.

There would be “pretty good” skiing from Tuesday lunchtime through Friday, with a bit more “rough” weather on the weekend.

The Tūroa and Whakapapa ski areas on the North Island were closed on Monday due to high winds, heavy rain and storm damage to the snow cover.

Snow fell around Queenstown overnight but had not settled in low-lying areas due to the warm ground temperature, according to a report from the Queenstown Lakes District Council.

Tom Woodward, a Queenstown man living in the elevated suburb of Fernhill, said people cheered for him as he snowboarded past jammed buses and cars this morning.

Woodward had planned to head to The Remarkables to take advantage of the fresh gunpowder, but when he saw that it was closed, he had to adjust his plans.

He said the snow was “really falling” around 8 a.m., accumulating up to a foot high in places, though it was slightly lower on warm roads.

Woodward grabbed his gear and started snowboarding from his front door, passing buses and crashed cars and police officers trying to help those who were trapped. She couldn’t get to town because there wasn’t enough snow below due to the heat of the road.

He said he was ready to hit the ski field on Tuesday, which could be the best day of the season depending on the wind.

The runway at Queenstown airport was cleared Monday morning and flights were canceled until further notice.

More flight information was available at queenstownairport.co.nz.

North Island National MPs Mark Mitchell and Tim van de Molan spent an unusually snowy morning trapped in Queenstown.

Mitchell’s morning flight was canceled and van de Molan was waiting to find out if his afternoon flight would leave Queenstown when the snow began to ease.

Van den Molan and Southland National candidate Joseph Mooney spent part of the morning pushing stuck cars on the road near Arrowtown.

“Tim is from Waikato … he loved it,” Mooney said.

Crown Range between Queenstown and Wānaka was closed overnight but reopened on Monday after being plowed.

However, another 10 cm of snow was expected on the road during the day, so all cars had to have chains. Chains must also be carried on SH6 between Haast and Makarora.

Traffic on the main Alpine passes was also interrupted by snow.

The Lewis Pass (SH7) between Canterbury and the West Coast closed around 6.30am on Monday due to snow, but reopened shortly before 10.30am

SH6 between Franz Josef and Fox Glacier closed around 10 a.m. M. Due to snow and a truck that had to be removed. It was expected to reopen at noon.

In Auckland, the New Zealand Transport Agency urged motorists to exercise caution when crossing the damaged Harbor Bridge on Monday and Tuesday as wind gusts of 80km / h were forecast.

MetService meteorologist Karl Loots said Wellington and the Wairarapa region would be affected by gales from the northwest Monday afternoon and a period of heavy rain was expected.

In a statement, the Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office (WREMO) said large swells were expected for Wellington and Wairarapa on Monday.

Waves of up to 4 meters in height were expected Tuesday night, finally declining to 3.5m on Wednesday before declining further later in the week.

A large storm surge watch was also set up between Paekākāriki and Raumati South, as there was a forecast for northwest swells that would reach between 3m and 3.5m in height, WREMO said.

The storm surge was expected to rise to 4.45m Monday afternoon before subsiding Monday night.

Thunderstorms, wind and more snow are expected in New Zealand over the next 48 hours as two fronts move through the country.

Metservice meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said the front that brought snow to parts of Southland and Queenstown Lakes on Monday morning reached the top of the South Island at 2 p.m.

The cooler air behind the front would bring snow showers to more than Otago during the afternoon.

There was also a heavy snow warning for the Buller and Nelson regions for Monday night and Tuesday.

High wind advisories were set for Canterbury, the west coast and Nelson.

The lower parts of the North Island would also be subject to strong winds Monday afternoon and into the evening.

Heavy rains were forecast for all parts of the North Island except Hawkes Bay and Gisborne.

Electrical storms were possible in the center of Wairarapa, Taranaki and Kapati.

Stormy weather would continue through Tuesday on the North Island and there was a snow warning for Desert Road.

Rain and snowfall would continue on the South Island with snow levels as low as 200 m, particularly in Southland.

Daytime temperatures could be 3 ° C or 4 ° C in Gore and Invercargill and reach a maximum of 5 ° C in Wanaka and Queenstown.

“How [Tuesday] go on, we see some good breaks starting to open up, “he said.

Starting Wednesday, the weather should start to clear.

The weather conditions weren’t entirely unusual for the time of year, he said.

“But a storm of this magnitude is definitely remarkable.”