A HARD FREEZE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 3, 3 July 1943, Page 4

A HARD FREEZE

CENTRAL OTAGO AREAS

p.A. DUNEDIN, July 2. Extraordinarily heavy frosts have ; been experienced in Central Otago loli lowing the snow . earlier in the week and temperatures below zero have been recorded in several districts. At Oturehua, where two feet of snow is lying, 38 degrees of frost were recorded this morning. "It has to be experienced to be believed," said one resident. , ... A report from Oinakau, where there were 36 degrees of frost this morning, states that tanks burst and beer and cordial bottles broke as a result of the* freezing of the contents, and eggs stored in the house were found to be cracked. As. all the water pipes are frozen residents have been getting snow and melting it in order to obtain water. Conditions only a little less severe have been experienced at Ranfurly, where bottles of beer and cordials also burst. The work of clearing the roads has been complicated by the frost and some of the outlying districts in Central Otago are isolated. Traffic to and from Queenstown has been dislocated all the week, and on Wednesday the bus services via Lumsden were cancelled altogether. The conditions are so bad that further cancellation may be necessary tomorrow.