Roads are reopening and conditions are easing after a wintry blast brought snow and travel disruptions to the South.
Residents across inland Otago reported widespread snow this morning, including in Queenstown, Naseby, Ranfurly, St Bathans and Oturehua. There have also been flurries in Dunedin.
A raft of southern roads were closed earlier owing to ice and snow. Waka Kotahi was still advising motorists to take care in the wintry conditions.
Crown Range Rd finally reopened between Eastburn Rd and Cardrona Village at about 3pm though chains are essential.
Flights have been cancelled at Queenstown Airport, where webcams this morning showed very snowy conditions.
Heavy snow watches were in place for inland Dunedin, Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes until 3pm today, and for Clutha, Southland and Fiordland until 5pm.
An Otago Daily Times reporter said there was "carnage" on the roads at Frankton, where there had been several crashes, and many drivers pulled off the road to wait out the snow.
As conditions eased in the area, people were getting outside, making snowmen and sliding down snowy slopes.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council earlier said there were flurries across the district this morning, and crews were gritting and ploughing roads where necessary.
The Central Otago District Council said there was snow around the Poolburn Hill, Oturehua, and Naseby areas and caution was advised. The Danseys Pass Road closed late this morning (from the gates past the Danseys Pass Hotel) due to snow and ice.
In Clutha, snow has been falling in the higher altitude areas of West Otago this morning and motorists are asked to use caution and drive to the conditions, a spokeswoman for the district council said.
Care is needed on all high-altitude roads and 4-wheel drive vehicles are recommended for these roads due to deeper patches of snow: Wilden School Rd, Wilden Runs Rd, Wilden Settlement Rd, Moa Flat Rd, Dunrobin Rd, Switzers Rd, Shanks Rd, Kempthorne Rd and Park Hill Rd.
Yesterday, strong winds downed powerlines, grounded flights and lifted trampolines across Dunedin.
MetService warned of more strong winds and snow to low levels in parts of the South today.
Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich told RNZ drivers should watch out for fallen trees on the city's roads.
"We have a lot of trees in Dunedin, and so when we have these very high winds it's quite occasional that a tree branch will fall across the road, so motorists do need to be careful of that.
The South Island saw a "fairly epic" night of wind, MetService says.
Speaking to RNZ, meteorologist John Law said there were some "really strong winds", particularly in the exposed coastal areas.
Earlier, Meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said a strong wind warning was in place until 8am and the whole of Otago should expect strong, gusty winds.
After a blustery night of southwesterlies, winds with the potential to reach 120kmh would continue through today.
A MetService spokesman said winds reached 130kmh in parts of Otago and Southland yesterday afternoon.
Winds gusting over 100kmh on the Taieri Plain lifted a large part of the historic National Airways Corporation hangar roof.
An Otago Aero Club spokesman said yesterday wind speeds were extremely high at the time, and he was concerned about those speeds increasing overnight.
Yesterday morning, strong winds led to a flight being diverted back to Auckland after twice failing to land at Dunedin Airport.
Passenger Marc van Woerkom said he saw bears while visiting Alaska, but coming back into Dunedin was the scariest part of the trip.
"On landing it was shaky, but when it was aborted was when you really felt the rocks.
"My wife definitely started squeezing my hand a bit harder," he said.
An Aurora Energy spokeswoman said strong winds brought down a tree over power lines, cutting power to 310 customers across Allanton, Momona and Outram, including Dunedin Airport.
An airport spokeswoman said the airport experienced "a blip with the winds", forcing it rely on its back-up generators.
In north Dunedin, winds brought down a power line in Signal Hill Rd and cut power to 386 customers.
There were further outages last night in Portobello, Broad Bay and Company Bay.
Snow closed the Crown Range road about noon yesterday.
Road snow warnings, Wednesday, 9:10pm
Dunedin to Waitati Highway (SH1)
Valid: 4 hours from 8pm Wed 2 Aug to midnight
Forecast: Snow showers are expected to continue through the night but little is expected to settle.
Crown Range Road
Valid: Snowfall possible and chains essential between Eastburn Rd and Cardrona Village.
All other road snowfall warnings for the South have been lifted.
Blown away
Strongest wind gusts recorded by MetService yesterday afternoon:
Dunedin City 60kmh at 2pm
Dunedin Airport 110kmh at 2pm
Swampy Summit 120kmh at 2pm
Mid Dome 130kmh at 2pm
Invercargill 85kmh at 11am
Alexandra 75kmh at 11am
Oamaru 81kmh at 1pm
- Additional reporting by John Lewis, Laine Priestley, ODT Online
