10/06/2026
This June marks 20 years since ‘The Big Snow’, when over the night of the 11th and 12th of June 2006, South Canterbury experienced its heaviest snowfall in decades!
Snow settled to depths of 75-90cm around Fairlie and Burkes Pass and more than 20cm in Timaru. Many will remember the white blanket, which in some inland areas did not melt fully for another fortnight. Numerous power lines around the district collapsed under the snow’s weight, like those pictured here at Seadown (image ©Stuff Ltd, see the Timaru Herald supplement ‘The Big Snow’ published later in June 2006 and now available online at https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/3331 ).
Many areas were without power for weeks. Read all about it on Aoraki Heritage Online, including newspaper clippings from the time: https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/2022 or come borrow a copy of ‘Snow storm: the South Island's big chill’ by Paul Gorman, to take home and read beside your heater.
