SNOW AND SLEET IN CANTERBURY

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27710, 14 July 1955, Page 14

SNOW AND SLEET IN CANTERBURY

Some Country Schools Closed LITTLE EFFECT ON TRANSPORT Snow, sleet, and rain continued to sweep across Canterbury yesterday, with a chill south-west wind. In Mid-Canterbury, snow settled even in coastal areas, and coated the hilltops of Banks Peninsula. At Methven, Darfield, and Oxford, there were falls of up to Bin yesterday morning, and showers continued during the day.

Except for the Arthur’s Pass and Porter’s Pass sections of the Spring-field-Otira road, no Canterbury roads have been reported closed. At Springfield, there were 16in of snow, and on Porter’s Pass (3102 ft the snow was 20in deep yesterday. Works Ministry graders have been operating in these areas, and it is expected that if there is no further snow, the road will be open tomorrow. Yesterday the storm was at times filling in the path cleared by the machines.

Last evening, the chief service officer of the Automobile Association. Canterbury (Mr L. D. Pickles) said that the Lewis Pass road was open, but he advised motorists to take chains if they attempted the route. Graders were working on the road yesterday. The Lindis Pass was open yesterday. About 4in of snow lay on the road. Temperatures were low throughout the day. At noon in Christchurch, the temperature was 38.9 degrees. Reports from country districts throughout the province indicated that there were mo signs of the weather clearing last evening.

Snow began to fall early yesterday morning. In Christchurch at 2 a.m. there was a, coating of hail on the streets, and it remained unmelted in the extreme cold. A light fall of snow settled early m the morning at Timaru. Snow fell again during the morning and afternoon. Storm in Mid-Canterbury Snow varying in depth from lin to 7m fell throughout the Ashburton county on Tuesday night and early yesterday. Near the coast there was just a light covering. About lin of snow lay at Ashburton, and there was 7m in the Mount Hutt area. There was a fall of 3in at Lyndhurst, and slightly more at Methven, but the fall was lighter towards Mayfield. It was estimated that about 7m fell at Methven on Tuesday and yesterday, but rain showers considerably reduced the amount of snow lying. The Methven School was closed early on Tuesday, and remained closed all day yes-

All rural mail deliveries finished up to an hour late yesterday because of the snow. ■ AL Barfield there was 7in of snow m the township in the morning, and showers fell during the day. The school there was closed yesterday. N°ne of the school buses ran. Snow in that area settled as far east as A y l^? ry - Schools were also closed at Methven and Sheffield. Further north, at Oxford, there was about Bin of snow up to 5 p.m. yesterday It had been snowing intermittently since 6 a.m. on Tuesday. It was Ift deep at Lees Valley, and 9in deep at View Hill and Cooper’s Creek. T P eas t of Oxford there was 4in at Bennetts, and 2in at Cust. No snow lay on the ground at Rangiora. In these latter areas rain fell throughout the day, and during the night.

_ , Lc '.’ Valley Road Blocked O n 'y the Lees Valley road from Cxford, was blocked. There were a few minor power failures when lines broke with the weight of snow. Bread deliveries in the Oxford district may 2£_ a ® 5 S te d there is more snow, day School was closed yesterOn Banks Peninsula, peaks were well coated with snow. Roads were not affected. There was no snow at Akaroa, although it settled on the surrounding hills, and at the Hilltop it was about 3m deep. 1 There was no settling of snow at Culverden, but it was low on the surrounding foothills. There was 3in to 4in on the ground at Hanmer Springs. Sleet and snow coated, the hills round Cheviot to a depth of about 2in There was a violent electrical storm in the Domett district on Tuesday evening, an u this affected the power supply. Bus services continued throughout Canterbury. The Midland bus from Lake Coleridge was the only one to arrive late in Christchurch, last evening. . It pulled in an hour late after pushing through snow up to 14in deep. One bus was briefly bogged in a snowdrift near Glenroy. Newman’s buses from Nelson were not delayed on the Lewis Pass route.

Rain has been falling throughout the South Island. Rainfall figures assembled at 9 a.m. yesterday morning were: Dunedin, ,43in; Oamaru. .25; Timaru, .10in; Harewood airport, .59in; Culverden. .24: Port Robinson, .89: Kaikoura, .59in; Cape Campbell, .93in. Record Snowfall Recalled Ten years ago today Christchurch lay blanketed by a record snowfall which isolated the city. The show came after a day of hot, 90 miles an hour north-west gales. Between 1 a.m. and daylight on Saturday, July 14, 1945, the snow coated the area up to 18 inches deep. Railways and roads were blocked, miles of telephone wires were broken, and business was paralysed. Little Victoria Lake was frozen over, and was used for skating. Post Office officials estimated the storm had cost £150,000 in damaged equipment. Orchardists, farmers, and others also had bills running into many thousands of pounds. Within a week the city was returning to normal, although some streets remained icy for weeks.