Editorial: Silver lining to cold

It was all quite magical really.

Someone arrived at work and said it was snowing outside. I'll admit I was dubious but went outside to see and found myself in the middle of a real snow flurry - right there in the middle of Rotorua's central city.

There were several "flurries" after that, each one seeming heavier than the one before. Central city workers rushed outside and turned their faces up to the snow as it fell softly, disappearing as it touched the ground but lingering on clothing, cars, hair and faces long enough to let everyone know they were not imagining it.

Although it's not so unusual to get a dusting of snow on the hills surrounding Rotorua city, long-time residents say it has been some four or five decades since it snowed in the city streets.

Cameras were whipped out and a tourist from Malaysia was terribly excited about her first snow experience.

Reports of snow came in from all around the city and rural areas in the district - Hamurana, Mamaku, Waikite Valley and Ngakuru, Lynmore, Springfield, Sunset. The hills around Taupo also turned white and there were flurries in the town. A Taupo colleague's daughter managed to gather enough snow to make a snowman - albeit an extremely small one.

No doubt children at preschool facilities and schools throughout the region ventured outside for a taste of winter's icy offering.

Of course we weren't the only centres getting a dose of rare snow  - weather forecasters predicted there would be a record number of towns and cities affected during the promised polar blast.

We might have to get used to such weather extremes in the face of climate change. This winter seems to have arrived rather late and now the cold has come we're really feeling it - although nobody seemed to mind during yesterday's snow flurries.