Winter blast drops snow in foothills

WELCOME: The snow-dusted sign for Wairarapa at the top of the Rimutaka Hill Rd.

It was a case of the foothills getting the snow, rather than the mountain peaks in Wairarapa.

Snow fell during Sunday night and yesterday morning in Wairarapa down to 300m, with NZ Transport Agency teams working through the night to keep the Rimutaka Hill Rd open for commuters to Wellington yesterday morning.

The foothills near Masterton and Carterton on both sides received a dump, as did the Aorangi Ranges on the southern coast.

Although the weather cleared across the Rimutaka and Tararua ranges, snow continued to fall on the eastern foothills during yesterday morning, reaching up to 6cm on the hills east of Gladstone.

Elsewhere, Hawke's Bay received 2-3cm of snow above 150m, but brief snow flurries were felt in Taradale and Napier. Severe southwesterly gales were expected today for Wairarapa and western Bay of Plenty.

Wellington experienced snow in Karori and its higher hills, including Mt Victoria and Wrights Hill.

It also had a power outage yesterday morning, with about 40,000 homes affected, but "nothing to do with the weather", said a Transpower spokeswoman.

Wairarapa is likely to remain cold on Thursday, with an expected minimum temperature of 0C, in comparison to 6C for Wellington and 3C for Napier. Frosts are expected.

Parts of the South Island received their heaviest snowfall this year, says MetService.

Exposed coastal areas, such as Banks Peninsula, coastal Otago and Southland copped the worst of the weather.

Cyrus, an American Akita, from Masterton, was out for a play in the snow. It was the first time the dog, 13 months, had seen snow.

Snow fall Admiral Road, Gladstone, Carterton.

Snow at the top of the Rimutaka Hill Rd.