Tauranga escapes worst of winter storm

Cars make their way through near-freezing conditions on the Kaimai Range as the Western Bay of Plenty escapes the worst of a winter storm terrorising New Zealand. Photo/George Novak

Snow, rain and gales pummelled most of New Zealand and lightly dusted parts of the Western Bay.

A severe winter storm made its way across the country yesterday, bringing snow to Rotorua and the wider Bay of Plenty.

MetService meteorologist Peter Little said there had been reports of snow flurries at the Kaimai Range and on Pyes Pa Rd, with snow falling down to almost 200m. But Tauranga itself escaped the worst of the storm.

Temperatures did not get higher than a brisk 8.9C and there were showers later in the day.

"It's been pretty cold," Mr Little said. "It's not often that you have single-digit temperatures for your high temperatures."

Today, Mr Little said, temperatures would stay fairly cold but would be warmer than yesterday. Temperatures may get up to 12C or 13C with afternoon showers and cloudy periods.

Coming into the weekend, Mr Little said the good news was that the ridge of high pressure was moving up and the low responsible for the severe weather was moving away to the east.

"Things improve, you're looking to a mainly fine weekend. Still fairly chilly and the nights are getting colder."

Alice Campbell, from The Falls Cafe in the Kaimai Range, said it was one of the coldest days she had experienced in the area.

"It did snow a little bit in the morning. You couldn't really capture it on camera but it's definitely pretty chilly," she said. "I got to work about 7.30am and there was a hard frost in Welcome Bay where I came in from but it seemed to have gotten colder as the day progressed."

Ms Campbell said the last time there was snow on the Kaimai Range was about five years ago.

She said the cafe had the fire "cranking", with soup and coffee helping people keep warm.

A severe weather watch was issued for most regions in New Zealand, warning of heavy rain, snow and severe southerly gales. MetService warned this was a "significant weather event" that could cause widespread disruption to transport and power supply.

State Highway 5 at Mamaku, north of Rotorua, was closed due to snow and motorists travelling on SH5 between Napier and Taupo needed rescuing after that highway was also closed.

Rotorua resident Murray Sturt was dropping a friend off in Mamaku, and described the conditions yesterday morning as a "blizzard".

"Snow is coming down hard, hard enough to cover the road at least ... I haven't seen it like this in 38 years."

On June 15 Tauranga recorded a low of 2C.