All southern highways closed by the weekend's wild weather have now reopened, but conditions remain unsettled, with strong winds forecast and a warning to watch surface flooding as snow melts.
Several southern highways, including Dunedin's Northern Motorway, remained closed early this morning due to snow and ice, but they have gradually reopened throughout the day.
Travellers were able to use State Highway 85 (Kyeburn-Macraes turnoff) and SH94 (Milford Road) by about 9.30am, but it took until almost 1pm before SH87 (Middlemarch-Kyeburn) reopened.
About 5.30pm, the Central Otago District Council said caution was advised on roads overnight, with surface flooding expected to increase as snow melts.
Motorists were urged to take care and drive to the conditions, as it was not possible to put signs up for all surface flooding.
A council spokeswoman said its contractor had been busy clearing snow, but it would still take another day or two to clear the highest roads around the network.
The following roads would remain closed overnight:
West Otago: Ardmore Rd (Park Hill to Wooded Hill), Wooded Hill Rd, Greenvale Rd (Glenkenich Rd to Wooded Hill), Winslade Rd, Cross Road
Hillend: Hillend Rd, Mt Stuart Rd
Waipori: All the roads around Mahinerangi, Waipori Falls, Lee Flat area
There was surface flooding in these areas:
West Otago: Pomahaka Rd, West Otago Rd, Mill Rd, Black Gully West, and Plantation Rd
Catlins: Papatowai Highway (Caberfeidh hill), Kaihiku Rd
Bruce: Back Rd/Springfield Rd, Coal Gully Rd, Riverbank Rd (near Lawson Rd)
Heavy rain, strong winds for South
More heavy rain was forecast for Southland, Clutha and Dunedin from 9am until 6pm on Monday, MetService advised. Expect a further 40mm to 60mm of rain about the mountains north of Mossburn to Riversdale and Balclutha on top of what has already fallen, and 20mm to 40mm elsewhere.
Heavy rain may cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly. Surface flooding and slips are also possible and driving conditions may be hazardous.
Meanwhile, strong winds were set to buffet Clutha, Dunedin and North Otago from 6am until 9pm on Tuesday, with severe gale west to southwesterlies gusting 120 km/h in exposed places.
Strong wind gusts could damage trees, powerlines and unsecured structures. Driving may be hazardous, especially for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles.
A strong wind watch was in place for other parts of the South Island. Southerly winds may approach severe gale in exposed places in Canterbury's Banks Peninsula from noon until 6pm on Monday, while Fiordland, Southland and Stewart Island may experience possible severe southwest gales on Monday and Tuesday.
Strong winds were also forecast for the top of the South Island and most of the western North Island on Monday.
The weather begins to become more settled, with winds easing off from the middle of the week.
Wild start to school holidays
The road closures were among the disruptions caused by wild weather over the weekend. Emergency services were not exempt from the chaos as the storm brought snow, falling trees and slippery slopes to the South.
While there were no injuries reported as cars crashed, roads were closed and homes lost power as about 20cm was dumped in parts of the region.
In Dunedin, a steep icy ascent thwarted the efforts of three fire trucks from reaching a trapped toddler at a Wakari property, forcing firefighters to abandon their vehicles and charge up the hill on foot.
A Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman said Roslyn firefighters responded to reports of a 2-year-old locked alone inside a house on Burt St at 8am yesterday.
A second crew from Dunedin City station was sent after the first crew became stuck on the ice on Lynn St, down a steep hill below the address.
The Dunedin crew was dispatched but was redirected to Stuart St, where a police spokeswoman said a car’s brakes had failed and caused the vehicle to block the road and needing to be towed away.
A third fire truck headed to the scene but decided to not ascend the hill due to the icy conditions, and the crew made their way on foot.
Firefighters made it inside the house and the toddler was safe and sound and in no danger, the Fenz spokesman said.
The Northern Motorway in Leith Valley was closed after being blocked by several vehicles, including a milk tanker.
The Manuka Gorge highway (SH8) was down to one lane after cars became stuck.
There were delays at Tunnel Hill on the Beaumont Highway. It reopened about 4.10pm but police still asked motorists to drive with care due to the conditions, a police spokeswoman said.
In a post on their Southern District Facebook page, police urged people to avoid travelling if at all possible.
Motorists were advised to take care when driving on hilly roads and in and around Dunedin and Otago due to icy conditions
"Slow down, the speed limit is just that, a limit not a target, and you may have to travel slower depending on the conditions. Make sure your headlights are on, and ensure you drive distraction-free."
A police spokesman said the District Command Centre advised there had been multiple minor crashes, but fortunately there had been no serious ones.
Police observed that many motorists were doing a good job of driving to the conditions.
Motorists on the Northern Motorway yesterday were reported to be driving well below the speed limit.
A Dunedin City Council spokesman said crews had worked hard throughout the night applying grit to roads.
“While gritting snow does little to improve traction, trucks were out applying grit to some of the iciest areas this morning.
“Black ice appeared late in some areas which caused additional problems, while snow continued to fall in the hill suburbs this afternoon.
Three Mile Hill was closed around 2.30am due to snow, and icy conditions were expected again this morning.
“Contractors will be patrolling roads overnight and treating arterial roads with grit or a de-icing agent where required to alleviate ice and frost.
“While treating the roads helps to reduce risk, drivers still need to be particularly careful in icy, winter conditions."
The council website listed eight city roads closed due to snow.
Power out in Waverly
The weather left more than a hundred homes without power over Saturday night.
An outages report on the Aurora Energy website said 122 customers had been affected by a fault in the Waverly area about 10.30pm on Saturday.
Due to major damages, the fault could not be fixed until 4.30pm yesterday, the report said.
Aurora Energy customer and engagement manager Lisa Gloag said the power outage was caused by trees coming down on power lines.
She said the trees’ contact with a live power line would have likely caused the "flash and boom" reported by members of the public.
A post on the Aurora Facebook page said there had been damage at multiple spots and their crew did its best to get power restored as soon as possible. Power was restored at 2.30pm.
MetService issued a heavy snow warning for Otago until 1am today. Meteorologist David Miller said there had been 15cm to 20cm of snow in parts of Otago, accumulating 200m above sea level. The snow level would gradually rise this morning with a little bit of warming.
Mr Miller said not much snow had made it north of Alexandra yesterday, with temperatures reaching 5degC at Dunedin Airport.
Queenstown missed out on the snow with temperatures at 4degC. Southland, Balclutha and areas inland in the Clutha district had seen similar weather.
Tapanui, on the other hand, had seen 20cm of snow, he said.
"It’s probably a good start for the school holidays," MetService meteorologist Paul Ngamanu said.
"Couple of movie days ... then once this flow clears off there’ll probably be some pretty good ski conditions."
Transport
Dunedin buses were unable to travel up Pine Hill - the route was forced to start and stop at Bank St.
The route 15 Ridge Runner and 37/38 Concord buses were suspended. Route 33 from Corstorphine and routes 44 and 55 from St Kilda travelled only to the Dunedin Bus Hub.
A Dunedin Airport spokeswoman said airport crews yesterday used de-icing equipment but the winter weather disrupted just one service.
An inbound flight from Christchurch due at 4.25pm was cancelled as was the corresponding flight out.
Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders said the weather had not affected port operations.
- Additional reporting staff reporters, ODT Online
