Crown Range webcam and weather station up and running

A state-of-the-art weather station and webcam has been installed at the summit of the Crown Range and is now beaming live images of the conditions at the top of New Zealand’s highest sealed road.

MetService meteorologists will be able to use high-resolution data from the new station, as well as the webcam imagery, to enhance forecasts for the Crown Range and the wider Queenstown Lakes District and produce a new road snow warning service for the Crown Range road. The project includes sensors that measure air and road temperatures, dew point, humidity, wind speed and direction and rainfall every minute.

This new road weather information will also help QLDC’s roading contractors to ensure the right resources are available depending on the conditions, resulting in a safer journey for everyone.

The high-definition panoramic web camera has been installed as part of the weather station and allows the public an opportunity to check the conditions at the Crown Range summit, with images being refreshed every four minutes on the MetService website - http://www.metservice.com/national/traffic-cams/queenstown

Polly Lambert, Policy, Standards and Asset Planner for QLDC, says the new services are a huge development for motorists, forecasters and roading contractors alike.

“The Crown Range is the main link between Queenstown and Wanaka and is regularly used by commuters and visitors. Being an alpine pass it is often affected by snow and ice so having a live feed of the conditions up there is a fantastic step forward.”

“This is world-leading technology and it has been a huge team effort to get this installed in fairly trying conditions up on the Crown Range.”

Lee Wright, Journey Manager for the NZ Transport Agency, agrees.

“This is a fantastic initiative. It gives Crown Range Road users the full picture on weather conditions at the highest point on this challenging route. Having access to this information means people can make better informed choices about their travel plans.”

The webcam will provide a valuable addition to QLDC’s winter road reporting service, offering drivers real-time imagery of the conditions at the summit of the Crown Range. This will be added to the QLDC Morning Winter Road Reports and is expected to be a welcome enhancement to this hugely popular service.

This reporting service is available free every morning in winter via email, text message and social media. Drivers can sign up via the QLDC website.

ENDS

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