For some, minus 10 isn't bad

For some, minus 10 isn't bad Has it been cold at your place? Spare a thought for the folks from Twizel, where yesterday's 10degC frost was the 34th morning of sub-zero temperatures out of the past 35, according to Niwa. "Because the air is so dry, we haven't had the hoar frosts. Resident Kevin Moore said although there had been some "cracker frosts", with the temperature down to minus 12degC, it had been a "beautiful" winter. Twizel, Ranfurly (-11degC), and Middlemarch (-10degC) yesterday had the dubious honour of recording the South's lowest temperatures as severe frosts affected much of the region. The sub-zero overnighttemperatures have resulted in hundreds of calls in the past few days to plumbers to fix burst or frozen pipes. It took until lunchtime for both places to pass 0degC, Queenstown reaching a "high" of 4degC and the airport 5degC. Wanaka was the coolest, reaching only 3. Niwa climate scientist Georgina Griffiths said the lows were not record-breaking, but because the past two winters had been "quite warm" in comparison, people were feeling the cold. Two Air New Zealand flights were delayed and one was cancelled at Dunedin International Airport yesterday. Planes needed to be de-iced and it was not until about 9am that a flight was able to leave the airport. In Central Otago, plumbers were called to more than a dozen damaged pipes in Wanaka and 15 in Cromwell. And householders are warned to expect more such problems, with MetService predicting further frosts overnight. Dunedin City Council network operations manager Mike Ind said in the past two days the council had dealt with eight burst pipes in the water reticulation system under roads. He also suggested people learn where their water shut-off was, and pin a plan of that site to their hot-water cylinder. The closest to a record was Ranfurly, which experienced its fourth-coldest morning since 1975 with its low of -11degC. Minimum temperatures of -6degC for Queenstown, -4degC for Dunedin and -2degC for the airport were forecast for last night. South Otago plumbers say they have received more than forty callouts so far to fix burst pipes or split exhaust valves on hot-water cylinders. His advice to home owners was to leave the manhole to the ceiling open or ajar, to allow some of the heat from the house to go into the ceiling, keeping pipes thawed. " . Rory McLellan, of McLellan's Ltd in Alexandra, said his firm had 50 calls yesterday morning and probably 40 on Sunday. . For some, minus 10 isn't bad Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 03/07/2012