No injuries were reported.
The highest gust recorded by the MetService on Wednesday night and yesterday was 83kmh at Swampy Summit.
For coastal Otago, the southwesterly is forecast to die out today, with a northeasterly developing tomorrow.
Inland, fine, frosty conditions are expected, with highs of about 6degC.
At Taiaroa Head, gusts of more than 130kmh were recorded early yesterday, data from the Port Otago showed.
The steeple of Sacred Heart Church, in Northeast Valley, crashed to the ground about 2.30am, waking parish priest Fr Aidan Cunningham.
On Wednesday night, the church hosted the bishop and nine confirmations, and this "could have been much worse ... we could have all been coming out of the church", Fr Cunningham said.
The Catholic Diocese of Dunedin confirmed yesterday the building was insured.
The fibreglass and steel steeple replaced a cast iron structure which was toppled by high winds on November 18, 1984.
Thousands of dollars of damage was caused to the clubrooms and greens at the St Clair Golf Club when winds early yesterday knocked over five large pines, scattering tree limbs around the course.
A 5m x 5m window and its wooden frame were blown into an upstairs room and a large wall-mounted television ended up on the floor.
The club and greens were closed yesterday and again today while damage is cleared.
Board member Peter Innes-Jones said builders boarded up the clubroom window, which would be replaced in due course.
In St Clair, a trampoline was blown over a fence into a neighbour's yard.
In South Otago, a four-wheel-drive vehicle drove into a tree which had fallen on State Highway 8, at Evans Flat near Lawrence, and a campervan was blown on to its side on State Highway 1 about 5km north of Balclutha about 10am.
Half an hour earlier, a utility and a truck collided on SH1 between Balclutha and Milton.
Constable Darren Huddleston, of Balclutha, said police believed the driver of the ute, a 39-year-old Tapanui man, was overtaking the truck and trailer unit in passing lanes when he hit the truck.
The man was taken to Dunedin Hospital.
The two crashes closed SH1 for half an hour while vehicles were removed, resulting in delays for motorists as traffic backed up for several kilometres.
In North Otago, a motorist had a lucky escape when a tree fell on to a car on State Highway 83 at Kurow about 7.30am.
