NEW ZEALAND SNOW

Press, Volume C, Issue 29649, 20 October 1961, Page 18

NEW ZEALAND SNOW

Wetter And Denser Than Europe’s New Zealand snow is, on average, much wetter and denser than snow in Europe, Mr A. J. Heine, of the Geological Survey of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Lower Hutt, said yesterday. Mr Heine made a series of measurements on Mount Ruapehu during the winter, and has also taken readings at Coronet Peak and Scott Base. Usually, when precipitation figures are being compiled, lOin of snow is taken as roughly equal to lin of rain, but according to Mr Heine this is far from true for New Zealand. It is based, he thinks, on conditions in the Eurnpean Alps, where in an average snowfall only a 5 to 15 per cent, of the fallen snow is ice, the rest being trapped air, Mr Heine’s measurements indicate that at Ruapehu the corresponding figure is 20 to 30 per cent., and ait Coronet Peak 10 to 20 per cent. Mr Heine has not made measurements so far on the Canterbury snowfields, but hopes to do so next winter. He believes that the snow in this area may be more comparable with that at Coronet Peak than Ruapehu, since he attributes the greater density at Ruapehu to the mountain’s more exposed situation in respect to mois-ture-laden winds. The snow at various places is different not only in density but in texture. Both at Ruapehu and at Scott Base, it consists of grains of about one millimetre diameter, but the Ruapehu grains tend to be fairly solid, while those at Scott Base are fluffy. At Coronet Peak, the snow is powdery rather than granular, and seems to correspond more with the snow types described from Europe.