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Latest NewsHeavy snow on way for South Island18 Aug 2008 - Heavy snow is on the way for parts of the South Island which have so far escaped some of the deepest falls in more than a decade. With snow still lying thickly on higher ground in many western and southern areas yesterday, the MetService issued yet another heavy snow warning this time for Canterbury, Marlborough, Otago and Southland.The warning came as a group of heli-skiers was struck by an avalanche on Temple Peak, 50km north-west of Queenstown, yesterday afternoon. One of the party was buried in the avalanche by 2m of snow but his fellow skiers were able to dig him out. The man, a Christchurch resident in his mid-30s, was flown to hospital with suspected hypothermia. Police later said the man's condition was satisfactory. The MetService says very cold southerly air is expected to spread north today with the snow level dropping from about 300m this morning to around sea level tonight. The hardest-hit areas are likely to be Banks Peninsula and Christchurch's Port Hills, the coastal hills of Otago and Dunedin's hill suburbs, with 15cm to 20cm of snow predicted down to 300m by 9am tomorrow and smaller amounts settling to 100m or to sea-level. Severe weather forecaster Ian Miller said last night the polar outbreak would peak tonight over Canterbury and should be over by the middle of tomorrow, although conditions would be cold enough that snow from heavy flurries would quickly accumulate. "It's looking like snow close to sea level in the east of the South Island, for Christchurch, and that'll be more the evening and overnight, but Dunedin and Otago will probably be getting close to that during the day. "It's just one burst, so conditions will improve from the south early Tuesday. "Clear skies on Wednesday means it'll be pretty icy with snow on the ground." State Highway 94 from Te Anau to Milford Sound was closed because of snow yesterday and State Highway 80 from Pukaki to Mount Cook was restricted to vehicles with chains. The large volume of snow in the South Island's mountains is a skiers' delight but is also increasing the risk of avalanches. The Department of Conservation said extreme care was needed in the Nelson, Marlborough and Kaikoura alpine areas and people were advised to stay away from the Nelson Lakes National Park for the time being. "We are strongly advising people not to go on tracks in Nelson Lakes National Park, and that includes lakeside tracks, due to the avalanche risk, the weather conditions, and risk of tree fall due to snow," DOC Nelson-Marlborough technical support manager Martin Heine said. Miller said another low pressure system was heading for New Zealand on Thursday and more snow was possible at first in inland Canterbury and Otago basins before milder north-westerlies on Friday. "Then it looks like we may have another pretty cold sou'wester going into the weekend." < Back ONLINE SHOP | RENTAL | STREETWEAR | COOL STUFF | GALLERY | NEWS | CONTACT | HOME PRIVACY POLICY | RETURNS POLICY | SHIPPING INFO | HELP
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