The sound of snow on the window woke up sisters Hanni and Hanna Azmi yesterday.
The girls quickly put on their winter jackets and went to play at Queens Park, which was blanketed in snow.
"That is the first time I ever saw snow. It is so fun," Hanna said.
Hanni agreed and took the opportunity to make a mini snowman, who she named Olaf.
Cleopatra Snowyn (4) also had a good time.
"It is so beautiful."
Some flights were cancelled and police urged Southlanders to avoid or delay travelling in wintry conditions.
MetService meteorologist Tamara Vukfa said snow in Invercargill was "definitely not a regular occurrence".
"The largest accumulations are expected above 400m, where 20cm or more of snow may accumulate on top of what has already fallen, while 15cm to 20cm of snow may accumulate above 100m."
In the Clutha district, many areas had experienced a snowfall or two by noon yesterday.
The falls were sporadic, some areas, such as Lawrence, Waiwera South, Milton and Clydevale, seeing more rain than snow.
But the hill regions surrounding Balclutha and Kaitangata, the hills east of Milton, the Kaihiku Ranges near Waiwera, the Catlins, farms west of Tuapeka and along the Blue Mountains were continually doused by frequent snowfalls and sleet showers throughout the day.
Balclutha, sitting at just 27m above sea level, experienced repeated snow flurries all day and while some hillside houses had good depths of fallen snow for children to roll a snowman in, most snow was washed away by the rain and sleet that accompanied the falls and the moderate local temperatures of between 2degC and 4degC.
On the coast, Port Molyneux, Kaka Point, and Owaka along with inland regions all had snow fall during the day.
