TARADALE BRACES FOR SNOW THAT HAS NEVER, IN RECORDED HISTORY, ARRIVED
MetService mentioned the word once. Pak'nSave is out of bread by 9am.
A single line in Tuesday's MetService forecast — "possible flurries above 400 metres" — has triggered panic in Taradale, a suburb sitting at 20 metres above sea level that has never seen snow.
The Pak'nSave on Gloucester Street was stripped of bread and milk by mid-morning. A staff member said one woman bought eleven bags of firewood and a thermal onesie before 9am. "She said she wasn't taking chances. I said it was 14 degrees. She said that was the problem."
Local Yvonne Pritchard, 71, said she remembered something similar in 1974. On reflection it was hail, and it was in Hastings. "Still, you don't want to be caught short. Gerald next door's wrapped his lemon tree in a duvet. The duvet's his daughter's. She doesn't know yet."
Napier City Council confirmed the gritter — singular — was "on standby". A spokesperson clarified that meant "parked at the depot, as it always is". Asked whether the gritter had ever gritted anything, the spokesperson said they'd have to check.
In Hastings, residents were laughing. A Havelock North woman told The Daily Yarn the Taradale response was "embarrassing for the Bay", before admitting she'd also bought two bags of firewood, just in case.
As of filing, it's 16 degrees. Yvonne is wearing the onesie.
The Pak'nSave on Gloucester Street was stripped of bread and milk by mid-morning. A staff member said one woman bought eleven bags of firewood and a thermal onesie before 9am. "She said she wasn't taking chances. I said it was 14 degrees. She said that was the problem."
Local Yvonne Pritchard, 71, said she remembered something similar in 1974. On reflection it was hail, and it was in Hastings. "Still, you don't want to be caught short. Gerald next door's wrapped his lemon tree in a duvet. The duvet's his daughter's. She doesn't know yet."
Napier City Council confirmed the gritter — singular — was "on standby". A spokesperson clarified that meant "parked at the depot, as it always is". Asked whether the gritter had ever gritted anything, the spokesperson said they'd have to check.
In Hastings, residents were laughing. A Havelock North woman told The Daily Yarn the Taradale response was "embarrassing for the Bay", before admitting she'd also bought two bags of firewood, just in case.
As of filing, it's 16 degrees. Yvonne is wearing the onesie.