New Zealand - Timaru - Timaru in a snow storm, White out conditions - July 1945 - Unknown Photographer - Private Original Photo #341550 Records about '1945 Snowstorm' - July 1945 Canterbury Snow and High Winds ( 1945-07-12 ) - Between Christchurch and Timaru approximately 30 miles (48 km) of telephone lines were flattened - Timaru received 30-40 cm of snow. (Reference: hwe.niwa.co.nz / NZ Historic Weather Events Catalog) - 1945 Canterbury. July, a very heavy snowfall even down to coastal areas. 30 cm about Christchurch, Ashburton and Timaru. Similar to 1903 and as bad as 1895 in some places. ( Reference: http://www.localweather.net.nz/) - July 13 1945 - Timaru's biggest fall of snow. - The Argus Monday 16 July 1945 Page 3 SNOWSTORMS SWEEP NZ DISTRICTS Big Losses of Stock Feared - More than seven inches of snow fell in Christchurch disorganising traffic, wrecking electric power lines, causing heavy damage to crops, and curtailing train services. Timaru reports heaviest snowfall in living memory. (Reference: http://sites.rootsweb.com/~nzlscant/snow.htm) Timaru - A port city in the southern Canterbury region - Southwest of Christchurch - The Timaru urban area is home to 29,100 people - The largest urban area in South Canterbury - Caroline Bay beach is a popular area close to city centre - Timaru has been built on rolling hills created from the lava flows of the extinct Mt Horrible volcano - Retailing is concentrated around the Stafford Street area. Reference: Wikipedia