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The past year's weather was punctuated by polar outbreaks, the worst of which brought a big snowstorm in June which blanketed Canterbury.
MetService spokesman Bob McDavitt said today that New Zealand experienced the coldest June since 1972, and that was mainly due to the "snowball storm" that hit on June 11-12.
"We had a southerly autumn, an early and slippery winter, a windy spring and then a cool start to summer," Mr McDaviit said.
Notes from his diary regularly feature what he termed "polar outbreaks" during the year.
The first came on Friday, March 3, with a southerly from the Southern Ocean.
Wind gusts reached 113km/h in Lyttelton, 137km/h in Kaikoura, and 143km/h at Mt. Kaukau. Swells up eight to 10 metres cancelled the Cook Strait ferries. Trees were snapped in Christchurch, roofs lifted in Wellington, and a warehouse fire fanned in Hawke's Bay.
Polar Outbreak No 2 happened on Anzac Day, April 25, and April 26. It was caused by rain clouds wrapping around onto south Canterbury just as a southerly arrived.
Flooding affected Oamaru, Dunedin, Mosgiel, and Taieri, and 300 homes were evacuated. Snow closed the Lindis Pass.
On Mother's Day, Sunday, May 14, Polar Outbreak No 3 struck and snow closed Milford Road, Burkes Pass and the Desert Road.
The big one, Polar Outbreak No 4, hit on Monday June 12.
"Winter started with a bang when a deepening low managed to mix moist air from the tropics with cold air fresh from the southern ocean," said Mr McDavitt.
"This low-pressure system was a large feature and MetService issued a record number of wind, rain and snow warnings. Hokitika was flooded, a gale in Auckland cut power to half the city for around five hours, and trees were toppled in Taupo and Tauranga. Snow blanketed Canterbury to a depth of 25cm at sea level (in Timaru) and up to 90cm deep around Fairlie."
This snow lasted on the inland plains for a fortnight and 10,000 homes were affected by power cuts in Canterbury, some of the cuts lasting until the end of June.
Insurance claims reached around $43 million but the snow laid good foundations for a bumper ski season that realised $75 million in revenue.
On Sunday, June 18, Polar Outbreak No 5 brought a southeasterly gale, with wind gusts up 98km/h in New Plymouth and 80 km/h to Gisborne. Both the Desert Road and the Napier-Taupo road were closed by snow.
Polar Outbreak No 6 struck on Wednesday, June 21, when another southerly brought snow that closed all the central North Island main roads and settled down to 500m in Hawke's Bay.
More snow fell on Tuesday, August 22, courtesy of Polar Outbreak No 7. The snow settled to a depth of 30cm in the Tekapo Basin, and was enough to close roads in Otago, and schools in Dunedin.
Wet, windy conditions from Polar Outbreak No 8 killed several hundred new-born lambs in Southland and Otago on Sunday, September 17.
Wellington and Wairarapa bore the brunt of Polar Outbreak No 9 on Wednesday, October 4. This southerly disrupted transport in Wellington: planes, trains, and ferries were cancelled. A rail bridge at Mauriceville, north of Masterton, was washed out.
On Wednesday, November 8, Polar Outbreak No 10 dumped snow over Southland and Central Otago.
The strongest wind gust recorded during the year happened on Saturday, September 2.
A low-pressure system deepened south of Campbell Island, producing a vigorous westerly flow over the South Island.
Mr McDavitt said trees were toppled at Athol and a car and caravan were blown off the road near Lake Tekapo. The Mid-Dome anemometer in Southland reported gusts to 195km/h, the strongest recorded wind gust of 2006.
- NZPA
