A chilly scene at Christchurch on Wednesday. (Waynne Williams)
On Wednesday Christchurch experienced it’s first snow “dump” of the year. It started snowing at 0700 and heavy snow continued falling until late afternoon.
Christchurch International Airport staff went into a well-practiced snow clearing routine. The runway was cleared regularly but some snow was settling and there was considerable fluctuations in visibility. The terminal ran off its own generator system for much of the time at the request of the city power authorities in order to free up power supplies for the city.
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Although the airport remained open throughout, airlines diverted and cancelled a number of flights causing considerable passenger backlogs. A few domestic flights had landed by mid-afternoon and the first international flight to land was Emirates which landed at 1415 from Dubai via Sydney.
photo – Waynne Williams
The next day dawned clear and crisp with a temperature of -5.3 degrees. It was late morning before operations began again.
Wow. Great photo of Jetstar A320 covered in snow. Never though I would see the day. So used to seeing them shine in the Qld sun at Brisbane and the Goldcoast.
iscover
dan
says:Wow. Great photo of Jetstar A320 covered in snow. Never though I would see the day. So used to seeing them shine in the Qld sun at Brisbane and the Goldcoast.