BLENHEIM BLANKETED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20003, 31 July 1939, Page 6

BLENHEIM BLANKETED

BULLDOZER CLEARS ROAD HOMBURS’ HOP CHECKED (Per Pres 3 Association.) BLENHEIM, this day. Snow fell on the flat here last night for the first time in five years, but by this morning it had practically disappeared. It was a wildly stormy night, with heavy wind and rain. Residents were not surprised on rising to see the heaviest mantle for years on the sourrounding hills and mountains, the snow ranging in depth from an inch to a loot. It is reported from the back country stations that one of the heaviest falls occurred near the Ra Valley and on Wangamoa Hill, midway between Blenheim and Nelson where the main highway traffic was delayed for upwards of an hour this morning while a Public Works Department 'bulldozer cleared the road for about half a mile.

There were also heavy falls on the Blenheim-West Coast road over Tophouse, but though the route carried heavy traffic during the weekend for the Seddon Shield Rugby match at Westport, no serious interruptions occurred. All the outlying districts report falls of snow, but no damage. Today there is fitful sunshine interspersed with rain and sleet.

The steamer Gabriella, bound from Newcastle to Wanganui, is sheltering in Queen Charlotte Sound on account of the stormy conditions making Wanganui unworkab 1 e. ■Four New Zealand Air Force bombers, en route from Palmerston North to Christchurch, remained her e overnight, as a result of snow at Wigram. The planes were picketed in the open. The crews had a somewhat anxious night on account of the high wind which caused one machine to break partially adrift.