Coldest weather this year hits New Zealand

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, July 06, 2003

Coldest weather this year hits New Zealand

New Zealand experienced the coldest day of the year Saturday as some roads and airports throughout the country were closed, and mail deliveries were interrupted.

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New Zealand experienced the coldest day of the year Saturday as some roads and airports throughout the country were closed, and mail deliveries were interrupted.

Weather expert Bob McDavitt, however, said if the cold front --which came through from the Antarctic on Friday night -- had arrived a few days earlier, the type of big snow that paralyzed Christchurch in 1992 could have been on the cards again.

"If the cold air we got had mixed with the moist air that was across the lower part of the North island a few days ago, then there would have been hell to pay from Canterbury to Gisborne," McDavitt was quoted Sunday by Sunday Star-Times as saying.

During the 1992 snow, about a million stock died, buildings were damaged and the economic impact on Canterbury was estimated at 50-100 million NZ dollars (about 29-58 million US dollars).

On Saturday, 30 cm of snow dropped on the mid-Canterbury town of Methven, roads in the South Island and lower North Island were closed and motorists in Christchurch were told to avoid two inner city overpasses because of ice.

The Desert Rd and Rimutaka Hill road in the lower North Island were also closed. They are not expected to open until Sunday.

Late Saturday heavy snow dumps in the central North Island trapped 40 vehicles on the Desert Road, with the army called into help.

A police spokeswoman pleaded Saturday night for motorists not to try driving on roads surrounding the central plateau: "It's absolute mayhem and chaos," Sergeant Caroline Marner said.

Police reported few traffic problems in the lower North Island, but it was a different story in the south. there were 30 crashes in the South Island between midnight and midday, when the worst ofthe weather hit. The weather started to clear in the south mid morning.

Dunedin and Invercargill airports were closed because of ice on the runways.

McDavitt said Sunday would bring good weather from Canterbury south, but there would be isolated showers over the lower part of the North Island.

He said the effects of the cold snap were probably being felt more because of good weather until now. June was the warmest on record.

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