Snow closes Mt Taranaki roads

23 June 2006
By SHARON MARRISAll roads to Mt Taranaki were closed yesterday as winter's grip tightened over the North Island.
Pembroke Rd, leading to the plateau and Stratford Mountain House, and Manaia Rd, leading to Dawson Falls, were closed about 1.30pm yesterday.
The third road, Egmont Rd, which leads to North Egmont, has been closed since yesterday morning.
Kevin Whelan, engineering officer at Stratford District Council, said they had been fighting a losing battle with the snow all day. "The graders can't clear the snow as fast as it's falling," he said, "so we've closed the roads in the interest of public safety".
The snowfall eased later in the afternoon, he said, but roads were not expected to reopen until this morning, weather permitting.
Robert Bennett, Stratford area manager for the Department of Conservation, said there had been 300 to 400mm of snow. He had been working at 500m and said snow had been falling for at least a couple of hours.
Mr Bennett, an Australian who arrived at DOC just over a year ago, said the snow didn't bother him. "It's good-looking snow," he said. "A very nice environment to work in, with lots of lovely big flakes falling down."
He said there had been a snowfall outside the office last year, but it was still rare there – 1km below the park boundary.
"We don't often get much down here and, if we do, it doesn't last too long because it warms up."
The MetService was predicting strong winds for South Taranaki this morning, with wind and rain to ease over most of the North Island tomorrow