The snowstorm struck about 7.45am, forcing schools to close, cancelling flights to and from the Frankton airport and creating many challenges for motorists, especially in the hill suburbs.
Sergeant Brian Cameron said the tricky road conditions mainly resulted in a few dents on cars.
"Luckily, we had no serious accidents. But it was disappointing to see most of those crashing their cars were locals.
"They should know more about how to adjust to the wintry conditions than tourists, but sadly that was not the case today," he said.
St John Queenstown operations team manager Alana Reid confirmed no-one was seriously hurt in accidents.
Mostly fine weather is forecast for today after possible morning fog, but Sgt Cameron warned motorists some roads could still be icy, especially around dawn and dusk.
"It is important now to drive to the winter conditions, and always carry chains and use them when needed.
"That goes for 4WD cars as well, which are not necessarily safer," he said.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council last night warned roads were likely to be frozen this morning.
"Given the roads are very wet from the snowfall, extreme caution will need to be exercised" communications manager Meaghan Miller said.
The biggest problem yesterday was with bigger vehicles and two-wheel-drives with no chains, she said.
Fernhill, Queenstown Hill, Goldfield Heights, areas of Lake Hayes and the Shotover Bridge had been problem areas.
"We had very slow-moving traffic, with some vehicles sliding across the road and blocking traffic," she said.
Many people made the decision to pull over because they could not get any traction on the roads, she said.
Nine grit trucks and ploughs and a grader had been deployed early on the main roads and as the snow eased they were able to clear and grit the other roads.
Air New Zealand Queenstown manager Dave Whitaker said about 400 passengers were affected by the snow yesterday.
Two flights were cancelled - one from Auckland and the other from Christchurch.
The cancellations also affected passengers at Queenstown waiting to leave.
However, Mr Whitaker said everyone affected was rebooked on other flights yesterday or today.
A Jetstar spokeswoman said the airline's Christchurch to Queenstown service was diverted to Dunedin yesterday and the 107 passengers were bussed to the resort.
However, its Queenstown to Auckland flight was cancelled, affecting another 117 passengers"The passengers will be carried [today] or were offered a refund - we weren't able to bus them out because of the snow."
Wakatipu High School and all the primary schools in Queenstown, Frankton and Arrowtown were closed because of snow.
However, in Glenorchy an equally snowy morning did not close the school.
Glenorchy School principal Mary Lou Grant said the school bus, which takes eight of the school's 36 pupils to school, was cancelled, giving those children the day off.
The rest of the pupils and the two teachers all walked to school through the snow.
No state highways were closed in the district, but SH6 between Queenstown and Kingston was closed to towing vehicles yesterday.
New Zealand Transport Agency Central Otago area manager John Jarvis said contractors worked all night on Tuesday and all day yesterday to keep state highways open.
"We had contractors clearing snow throughout Central Otago from Roxburgh to Ranfurly and through the Kawarau Gorge through to Queenstown and Kingston," he said.
The Lindis Pass was closed at 7pm on Tuesday and reopened at 11.30am yesterday after contractors worked all night to clear the snow.
"We had all available plants out clearing roads all night and all day.
"We are not expecting any closures or snow, but drivers must be very wary freezing overnight will cause ice on roads in the morning, especially in shady spots that didn't get any sun," he said.
