"It is definitely colder, but the kids are still outside playing handball so it can't be that cold."
Power remained on at the school.
According to Unison, 382 customers lost power in the Mamaku, Hamurana and Ngatira area just after midday. Crews found a line down and repaired it, restoring power mid-afternoon.
Although temps at midday are mostly in the mid-single digits for much of NZ, things will feel much colder - that's all down to the wind chill effect brought on by the strong winds🥶
Unison spokesman Danny Gough said 83 customers had their power restored not long after the intital outage but he could not confirm the cause of the outage.
A Waikite Valley Thermal Pools staff member also confirmed sleet had fallen in the Waikite area.
Waikite Valley School deputy principal Lisa Dinning said sleet fell at around 11am, but there was no snowfall on school grounds.
Students remained inside during their breaks today as it was "absolutely freezing" and quite windy, she said.
UPDATE 10:30AM, TUE 29 JUN SH4 National Park to Tohunga Junction (Ohakune) is now OPEN, but SH1 Desert Rd remains CLOSED with a detour via SH4 National Park. Please drive to the winter conditions on the detour route by slowing down and allowing greater following distances. ^IF pic.twitter.com/sBGXjLaCVx
— Waka Kotahi NZTA Central North Island (@WakaKotahiCNI) June 28, 2021
Snow has also been falling in Wellington and Taranaki this morning and the Desert Rd remains closed, made impassable by the stormy weather. Snow has also started falling on the Napier-Taupo highway.
