It's snow fun for some
The biggest snow dump in Canterbury in decades is slowly beginning to melt.
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Just a few weeks ago it was a challenge to drive or walk around Christchurch’s liquefacted streets.
Today and yesterday it was the ice and snow that kept a huge proportion of the work force at home. Walking around neighbourhoods on the frozen white stuff is tempting fate.
On the second coldest day since 1918 yesterday, Cantabrians and indeed, people around the country, awoke to whiteout scenes more common in northern hemisphere winters.
For the 10,000-odd residents still without flushing toilets, and the many more with earthquake cracks and holes in their homes, it wasn’t really welcome. Pulling on your warmest gear to visit the backyard or nearest portaloo is just another chore for the hardy southerners.
A handful of residents were without power during yesterday but the Orion lines company had power to nearly everyone by tea time. Airport operations are slowly returning to normal.
But now the sun is shining so brightly it’s hard to see without sunglasses. The vast sheets of snow on roofs and trees are starting to melt, although likely to remain in drifts for many days yet.
Families with children who are on their school holidays have been having a great time competing to sculpt the best ones for Facebook compeititions. Normally, Christchurch might get one or two snow dumps like this every few years.
And the long awaited ski season is well and truly here, to the relief of ski field operators and owners who can expect a surge in skiers in coming days and weeks.
Out in the rural areas the snow is proving a challenge in the immediate term but the slow snow melt should ensure the water drains into the soil and fill shallow aquifers ahead of the irrigation season.
Chris Hutching
Tue, 26 Jul 2011
Tue, 26 Jul 2011
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It's snow fun for some
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