{"id":103874,"date":"2025-10-27T18:43:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T18:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/103874\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T18:43:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T18:43:09","slug":"lightning-strike-cuts-power-in-central-areas-as-snow-traps-vehicles-across-south-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/103874\/","title":{"rendered":"Lightning strike cuts power in central areas as snow traps vehicles across South Island"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">Transpower has declared a grid emergency this morning after a lightning strike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cThe tripping of the Whirinaki, Wairakei and Harapak, Tauhara circuits, due to a lightning strike, caused a loss of supply to the Hawke\u2019s Bay and a loss of connection for Harapaki, Whirinaki and Waikaremoana generation,\u201d the notification read.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">Meanwhile, police said vehicles are trapped on the Haast and Lindis passes with contractors working to clear the snow to get them out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">Snow has also closed State Highway 8 from Fairlie to Twizel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">The Mt Cook turn-off is also blocked, with SH83 between \u014cmarama and Kurow, SH87 from Kyeburn to Mosgiel and SH1 between Dunedin and Waitati.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">UPDATE 6:20AM, <br \/>The below state highways are CLOSED:<br \/>\u2022 SH6 Inangahua to O&#8217;Sullivans Bridge &amp; SH6 Haast to Makarora<br \/>\u2022 SH8 Fairlie to Twizel &amp; SH8 Tarras to Omarama<br \/>\u2022 SH79 Geraldine to Fairlie<br \/>\u2022 SH80 Mount Cook to Lake Pukaki <br \/>\u2022 SH82 Waimate to Kurow<br \/>\u2022 SH83 Omarama to Kurow <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ik7v1M9mgu\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/ik7v1M9mgu<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/eMns1kWKJ8\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/eMns1kWKJ8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NZ Transport Agency &#8211; Canterbury &amp; West Coast (@nztacwc) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nztacwc\/status\/1982864028008341728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">October 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">A heavy snow warning is in place until 11am for the Canterbury High Country south of SH73, Queenstown Lakes District about and north of W\u0101naka, and Central Otago about and north of Ranfurly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">MetService said travel disruption and damage to trees and powerlines is possible, as is stress to livestock.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">A heavy snow watch also covers Banks Peninsula until 1pm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">Road snowfall warnings are in place today for Arthur\u2019s Pass (SH73), Desert Road (SH1), Haast Pass (SH6), Lewis Pass (SH7) and Porters Pass (SH73).<\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">Warnings for Crown Range Rd, Dunedin to Waitati Highway (SH1) and Milford Rd (SH94) lapsed in the early hours of this morning.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83c\udf29\ufe0f Thunderstorms and heavy rain to start Tuesday\ud83c\udf29\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>To add to the other Watches and Warnings currently in place across the country.<\/p>\n<p>A Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been issued for early Tuesday morning.   <\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\udf29\ufe0fNorthland<br \/>\ud83c\udf29\ufe0fAuckland<br \/>\ud83c\udf29\ufe0fCoromandel<br \/>\ud83c\udf29\ufe0fWaikato<br \/>\ud83c\udf29\ufe0fBay of Plenty <br \/>\ud83c\udf29\ufe0fRotorua <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XzyciM1V19\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/XzyciM1V19<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MetService (@MetService) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MetService\/status\/1982712505622495396?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">October 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">Yesterday, a severe thunderstorm watch was issued for Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Rotorua, lasting until 5am this morning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">Most of these have lapsed, but there is still a risk of wild weather for the eastern ranges of Bay of Plenty until 4pm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">MetService is telling residents to expect 80 to 130mm of rain this morning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">Many roads remain blocked around the central North Island due to fallen trees and debris. <\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">UPDATE 6AM, TUE 28 OCT<br \/>SH43 remains CLOSED between Stratford and Taumarunui townships, due to several fallen trees at several locations. <\/p>\n<p>Road users are advised to avoid travelling to and\/or through this area until further notice. ^JP <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uNXrI75L9K\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/uNXrI75L9K<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NZ Transport Agency &#8211; Central North Island (@nztacni) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nztacni\/status\/1982856133699055986?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">October 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">The cold front is expected to move off the country in the second half of today, which would be followed by a \u201cdisturbed west to southwest flow\u201d which is expected to cover most of the country, according to MetService.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">There is a moderate chance of thunderstorms for the central North Island during the afternoon, from Waikato to Whanganui and across to northern Hawke\u2019s Bay and Gisborne, with localised rainfall rates of 10 to 20mm\/h.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dptlwVDgxxGx\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cA broad low risk of thunderstorms then covers the remaining parts of central and northern New Zealand, also spreading to Fiordland and Stewart Island at night,\u201d MetService reported.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Transpower has declared a grid emergency this morning after a lightning strike. \u201cThe tripping of the Whirinaki, Wairakei&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103875,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2840,22509,806,6799,1853,13982,2841,10666,78,2514,9322,111,43,139,529,69,10112,75415,6633,1240,75414,4485,8528,27218,6861,4998],"class_list":["post-103874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-across","tag-areas","tag-as","tag-cars","tag-central","tag-continues","tag-country","tag-cuts","tag-in","tag-island","tag-lightning","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-north","tag-nz","tag-power","tag-pummel","tag-snow","tag-south","tag-stormy","tag-strike","tag-trapped","tag-traps","tag-vehicles","tag-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}