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Snowmygod lol

By Anne Russell

Victoria University students Nick Meehan and Anjali Samra enjoying Wellington’s first major snowfall in decades. Photo courtesy of Nick Meehan.

Social networking sites Facebook and Twitter have provided round-the-clock updates on the fierce snowstorm that is sweeping the country.

Despite (or perhaps because of) school closures and road blocks, most Kiwis seem delighted with the unusual weather, posting pictures of snowmen and excited snow-related statuses at a furious rate.

Not everyone is thrilled with the weather conditions, however.

Wellington Zoo uploaded several pictures of disgruntled lions, no doubt confused at weather never-before-seen in either Wellington or their natural habitat.

Service workers have even more reason to be upset; KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks employees were informed they would receive no compensation for their lost hours at work.

Indeed, many shops have shut down, prompting christina_evans of Christchurch to comment: “Walked around my neighbourhood and discovered two types of shops are open: dairies and the liquor store #snowmaggedon #essentialindustry?”

City councils and weather services have found Facebook and Twitter very helpful for alerting people about power cuts providing other helpful information. ChristchurchCC, for example, is making regular updates on road management and urged residents to “keep warm, keep safe”.

Scoop's Karori crew also got into the social media game on Sunday night posting the above video when the snowfall was at it's heaviest.

A collection of links to snow-related news, forecasts and pictures can be found below:

Fox News on Wellington snow: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/08/14/wellington-delights-in-snow-as-cold-blast-hits-nz/

Snow surfing! http://twitpic.com/5uw77k

Snow flowers! http://redgage.com/photos/nimbleful/snow-flowers.html

Snow in Auckland: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFh74AXUmLs

Stuff reader photos of Wellington snowfall: available here and here.

Dunedin snow: http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/raw-video-dunedin-hit-snowy-blast-2-02-4351512

TVNZ liveblogging snow: http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/live-updates-winter-storm-hits-nz-4351506" target="_blank"

Snowfall warnings from Metservice: http://www.metservice.com/national/warnings/road-snowfall-warnings

ENDS

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