There's cold, then there's -12degC

Ophir resident Sam Leask says the winter has been colder in the area. PHOTOS: JONO EDWARDS

While -9degC would be considered unbearable for most people, it is not out of the ordinary for Ophir resident Sam Leask.

"Oh it's been cold in the last few days for sure, but it regularly gets down to -12degC here.''

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Science (Niwa) weather station on his lawn clocked a winter low of -9degC on Friday morning, with daily lows over the past week landing mostly between -6degC and -8degC.

The small Central Otago village, near Omakau, had New Zealand's coldest recorded temperature of -21.6degC on July 3, 1995, until Niwa scientists in 2011 uncovered a historical reading of -25.6degC in Ranfurly from 1903.

Mr Leask remembers the 1995 frost well.

"It was a very unusual year. We'd also had the biggest snowfall in recent memory. About 18 inches. Then we had huge floods. It was a year of extremes.''

The surrounding days were similarly bitter, he said.

"One day the daily maximum was -17degC. The sheep's wool would be frozen to the snow.''

A few years earlier a section of the Manuherikia River was frozen so hard it could be walked over, he said.

It was standard practice for residents to have pipes buried 30cm or more underground and anti-freeze in all vehicles.

Ophir's resident canines Spike (left) and Buster sit by the fire at Black's Hotel in Ophir.

Blacks Hotel co-owner Sam Stoddart said people would pour into the pub about 4pm to sit beside its two large fireplaces.

"We need to have salt on hand to pour on the deck because it gets slippery and a lot of people come in that way.

"The frosts here can look absolutely beautiful though. Because it's drier, the cold doesn't have that same bite that you get in Dunedin.''

Visiting daughter Charlotte Burt said the family got lost walking in the thick fog covering the village over the weekend.

"We were having a great time sledding, but by 4.30pm it was getting dark and we were completely lost. It was a really bad time, with a 3-year-old and two dogs.''

Central Otago District Council infrastructure services executive assistant Meredith Kerrisk said even some gravel roads in the district were becoming slippery because of frost thawing during the day and softening the surface.

Contractor Fulton Hogan inspected the roads every morning and applied grit and ice-preventing chemicals where needed.

jono.edwards@odt.co.nz