Snow-like patches in Northland spark nostalgia for past snowfalls

Snow fell in August 2011 at the Tutamoe settlement - 20 years after a sprinkling at Waimatenui. Photo / Kristin Hayes

Recent snow-like sightings have stirred Northlanders’ memories of when the Far North was transformed into a winter wonderland.

A Waimamaku couple were travelling towards Dargaville last weekend when they spotted patches of what looked like snow on the roadside.

They shared their find online, which created a flurry of excitement.

Although MetService put the rumours to bed, saying temperatures hadn’t been cold enough for snow, the excitement has persisted as Northlanders relive earlier snowfalls.

Ninety-year-old Shaun Reilly contacted the Northern Advocate to share his memories of a similar event in 1991.

He said the photo of the hail taken on the side of Waipoua Forest Rd on Saturday was only a “small” amount compared to an event 33 years ago.

Residents had then marvelled at the sight of snow-capped hills at Waimatenui, about an hour’s drive from Dargaville.

“The hills were snow white,” Reilly said.

The Kaikohe resident said a local man’s roof and lawn had turned white from the dusting.

Sleet had also fallen in Kaikohe and caused significant flooding.

Reilly had to help move a local man’s furniture upstairs due to the deluge.

“The water was nine inches over the footpath, all the drains just couldn’t take [the water].”

Reilly believed the township struggled with water overflow because sleet had piled up in the drains.

An early-morning commuter and his wife said Northland looked like the South Island on Saturday morning when they spotted pockets of white on either side of Waipoua Forest Rd. Photo / Stephen Wykes

He said seeing the hills at Waimatenui covered in snow was interesting to look at.

“I don’t think there was any great panic about anything,” he said.

“[But] it was quite a big, serious phenomenon.”

A scene of the big snowfall at Tutamoe on August 16, 2011. Photo / Kristin Hayes

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Snowfall isn’t completely foreign to rural areas in Northland despite the region’s reputation as the “Winterless North”.

In 2011 Tutamoe was blanketed in snow, enough for locals to build snowmen and have snowball fights.

Photographs found in the Northern Advocate’s digital archives show families rugged up and playing in the snow, and farmland coated in white.

Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.