Fresh Snow on Mt Hutt


Not the best photo. I should have done better on such a clear bright day. My excuse is that despite the sunshine, the wind coming off that snow was chilling (and I had been biking into it, loaded with groceries). The truth is I wasn't wearing my reading glasses so had no idea of the (lack of) quality until much later.

Mt Hutt, about 15 miles away, has a ski field.  There have been years when skiing continued into December; 2024 might be one of them!  We are having a La Niña season, which for us means cooler temperatures. The nights are near to freezing still, but it was probably the reason the rhododendrons had such a spectacular flowering this season this year.

Hopefully La Niña will also reduce the risk of a long and stressful fire season.

Comments

  1. Hari Om
    Don't do yourself down, that's a perfectly good shot. Maybe not the one you were planning, but much to offer nevertheless. We're at minus one in Edinburgh as I type this...YAM xx

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    1. I am rather long sighted and could see Mt Hutt crisp and clear, and even a mantle of fog or low cloud girdling it's nether regions, so the fuzzy effect was disappointing. We definitely are not in minus temps during the day time. Xx F

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  2. Well, that still looks pretty spectacular to me!

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  3. It looks so beautiful. A little bit of winter in the middle of summer

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  4. That is an amazing photograph, never mind what you might regard as not the best quality. I note the deep gutters at the side of the road, ready for the rains if they come.

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    1. Gutters like that are standard in NZ as far as I know. We definitely don't park right up to the curb (which was a whole new challenge for me in UK; parking two millimeters from the vertical edge..not scrapping the tyre or plastic wheel trim and not being accused of 'that's not parked, it's abandoned'!

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  5. la Nina here this year just about ruined the whole east coast of the USA and also inland for 500 miles. that is a good way to see snow. from a distance or be able to drive there and enjoy and then come back to non snow.

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    1. Strange the different effects the direction of Pacific current has on different parts of the entire planet. El Niño here is hot and dry and we burn (quite literally), La Niña is cloudy and cool.

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  6. What a lovely mountain. It looks like skiing will be challanging.

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    1. They don't ski the whole mountain, just one or two basins near the top.

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  7. A beautiful sight...snow here further north (so far) Highlands and Islands..we may get some tonight.
    Looking forward to getting some sunshine in Whanganui..hope it won't be a very wet summer, just had one of those her in Scotland!!

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    1. I have been trying for ages to work out where you are writing from - Scotland or NZ. You clearly know both really well. Now I think you commute! 🤫

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    2. Generally every two years....NZ masters Games in Whanganui in "odd" years! I stayed nearly six months the first time ( the maximum we can) and the shortest has been just under four months.
      Talking of pressure cookers, exactly which safety valve do you need...the small rubber one with a metal peg, or the pressure weight? And how old is your pressure cooker. Prestige nearly went to the wall, and was bought by another pressure cooker company I think. If it was after that date I do have the new style valve....

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    3. I need the safety release valve. I have a contact in Auckland who was the warehouse man for them - he knows where to get parts (I hope he still inhabits this mortal coil - it is a couple of years since I got lid seals through him.)

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    4. Well if he can get that small rubber valve I'd like one too!
      Prestige was first in trouble and changed hands in 1997...and has changed hands again this year

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  8. Super photo. I didn't even know you get snow.

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    1. Lots of snow Dave. Even down here on the flat gets a bit in the winter times. A few years back a particularly big dump had some people living in the foothills cut of from electricity for about 6 weeks. They still talk about the year of the big snow. Even here on the flat got about 2 feet of snow. (I was in UK) but I recall that my Mum slipped in the icy conditions and broke her shoulder. We aren't generally equipped to deal with so much of the stuff. There are loads of ski fields.

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  9. Strange to see snow on Mt Hutt in mid November! Yes, I also hope it means less fire risk season this year.

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    1. It didn't last long. Most of it gone in a couple pf days.

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  10. Your photo reminds me of Banff (Canada) where there are mountain peaks at the end of the Main Street No trees, blue skies and deep gutters though. Bowen in Qld has gutters like yours (the wet brings lots of rain)
    Our overnights are low single digits some nights but not that low. I’d wonder what the world had come to if we had snow that late, well snow any time. I do wish summer would hurry up and arrive though

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    1. That is La Nina for you. It is an excellent year for the roses, so enjoy those.

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