George Empson/delivered
A storm front approaches Lake Takapō/Tekapo on Sunday around 12:30 p.m.
Heavy rainfall over the weekend has hampered efforts to increase levels of stored drinking water in Timaru’s urban supply.
Supply conservation measures have been in place since July 29, when a series of inclement weather reduced the Timaru district council’s ability to draw flood-affected water from river inlets, raising the risk of boiling water reports for the plan, which could be dangerous. had been, had grown. almost run out.
A spokesman for the municipality said Monday morning that while conservation measures had gone well until Saturday morning, the quality of the well water had declined due to the significant rainfall.
“We continued to take Opihi (river), but we were unable to take from Pareora yesterday because the turbidity (silt) was too high,” the spokesman said.
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“We need our community to continue the great work they are doing to conserve water until we get a calmer period of weather.”
In other parts of South Canterbury, parts of State Highway 8 will remain closed Monday morning due to snow, but power has been restored in the interior of the region.
SH8 is closed in two places – Fairlie to Twizel and Tarras to Ōmārama (Lindis Pass) – due to severe snow and ice conditions.
Alpine Energy’s website, Monday morning, shows that the only power outage left is at the Department of Conservation in Twizel. On Sunday, the power went out in Twizel and Pukaki from about 7:30 p.m.
The heavy snow warning for inland Canterbury above 300m will be updated Monday at 10 a.m.
MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan said they had reports from Timaru of sleet and icy rain last night and said it was “very cold and wintry weather”.
Corrigan said they received reports of snow 100-200 meters in the Canterbury High Country, a level lower than most snowfall they would see at this time of year.
16.4 millimeters of rain fell at Timaru airport between Sunday 1 p.m. and Monday 4 p.m.
“There will be some rainy weather in the Canterbury coast today,” Corrigan said.
“For inland Canterbury, more sustained rain and snow will continue today.”
The Mt Dobson ski area is closed and reports the temperature on site at -12 Celsius at 6am with 20-25cm of snow falling overnight.
“It is forecast to snow all day, after that it looks like we will have good weather for the rest of the week, including little wind,” said James Lazor, the skifield’s business and snowsports manager.
Mackenzie College said on their social media page that the school will be closed Monday due to inclement weather, while Twizel Area School reported a late start of 10am.