High winds have closed Mt Hutt skifield today, with around 1000 people stranded on the mountain likely to be spending the night there.
Skifield manager Dave Wilson said the field was closed shortly after noon because of the conditions and driving down the access road was not an option due to poor visibility.
He was hoping the weather would improve enough to allow people to drive down but now darkness has fallen, it was looking more likely that the trapped skiers would be spending the night.
NZHerald
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Ken Ring on 12/08/2010 12:35pm
I have been warning all year that August will bring blocked access roads to the skifields. My almanac on p525 predicted blocked roads on the 13th. It does mean winter is finally kicking in, and skiers and farmers should expect more extreme wintry weather to come.
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RW on 12/08/2010 8:40pm
Wintry??? It’s a “premature” example of a very strong spring NW-er. And the next few days are predicted to bring warm quadrant flows.
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Rachel jennings on 12/08/2010 8:21am
Hi there
Is the wind closing Mt. Hutt a result of the system coming in tonight/tomorrow? It’s pretty warm in Christchurch at present at 11 degrees.
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WW Forecast Team on 12/08/2010 8:38am
The wind cam in very quickly today at Mt Hutt and it is part of the system and that high cloud you had in Christchurch today saw strong nor’ westers aloft.
Cheers
WW
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