HAIL AND SLEET

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 193, 16 August 1941, Page 8

HAIL AND SLEET

CANTERBURY STORM

SNOW OVER WIDE AREA (P.A.) CHRISTCHURCH, this day. Snow, rain, hail and sleet gave Canterbury its first taste of real winter weather to-day. After two days of rain and snow a south-west storm developed to its fiercest degree throughout last night and showed no sign of abating at mid-day.

Rough weather was experienced by the inter-island express steamer Maori at Cape Campbell, but she made a smart passage across the Strait, arriving at Lyttelton at 5.2."> a.m., although half an hour late in leaving Wellington.

Although Christchurch experienced only slight falls of snow, temperatures yesterday and to-day were much colder than on the preceding days. There were heavy falls of snow in the hilly parts of the province, particularly at Cass and Bealey, making the Arthur's Pass route to the West Coast almost impassable.

Bank's Peninsula was also swept by a snowstorm. 12 inches of snow lying on Hill Top on the road to Akaroa. Snow is also reported to be lying at many places in mid-Canter-bury, and in north Canterbury it fell steadily from the early hours of the morning to about 10.30. At Burnham military camp there was a coating about two inches deep.