Normal service is resuming in Dunedin as the bitterly cold snap affecting most of the country eases in the city - although schools and some roads remain closed and the airport has been dogged by delays.
Temperatures didn't drop to freezing overnight as expected, meaning much of the snow has melted away.
Several flights have made it in and out of Dunedin International Airport after six flights were cancelled this morning. The airport is now showing some flights landing this afternoon but delays are expected to other scheduled flights.
State Highway 1 north of the city was closed this morning but is now open with a caution in place.
Other key routes in the region including the Lindis Pass and the Pigroot (SH85) are closed and the New Zealand Transport Agency is warning problems with black ice would linger for a week. For latest updates click here
In Dunedin, Three Mile Hill, Castlewood Rd, Camp Rd and Highcliff Rd have all reopened. Mt Cargill remains closed.
All schools in the city are closed. Primary schools were to have opened at 10am but that has now been revised. Has your day been disrupted by the decision to close schools? Email us
Other parts of the city are coming back to life. Dunedin and Wakari Hospitals are open again and bus services are running at close to 100% after being shut down last night.
Queenstown
The runway at Queenstown Airport has reopened after being closed this morning.
All schools and pre-schools in the Wakatipu are closed today.
State Highway 6 has reopened between Frankton and Kingston but chains must be carried. Ice was likely on Frankton Rd, between Frankton and Queenstown, plus Glenorchy, Arthur's Pt and Cardrona to Wanaka.
Te Anau and Queenstown police say they are pleased with how drivers have handled road conditions over the past few day in the snow.
Neither station has dealt with serious incidents and reported minor road slippages.
Te Anau is struggling to get supplies into the town because the the road from Five Rivers to Queenstown has been blocked off with snow.
The Winter Games have been affected: the freeski slopestyle has been postponed to Thursday and the freestyle cross-country race has been cancelled.
Central Otago
The Maniototo is continuing to bear the brunt of the snow storm in Central Otago.
Maniototo residents report up to 40cm of snow in Kyeburn, 20cm at Patearoa and St Bathans and up to 50cm at Dansey Pass.
Senior Constable Steve Burke, of Ranfurly, said there was about 25cm of snow on the ground in Ranfurly and all roads were closed in the area.
The weight of heavy snow on house roofs might soon become a problem, he said.
Roads throughout the Maniototo and the Ida Valley are closed.
Snow in Alexandra, Cromwell and Roxburgh was thawing this morning, helped along in some areas by rain showers.
Many schools in Central Otago were closed for the second successive day - including primary schools in Clyde, Alexandra, Oamaku, Poolburn and in the Maniototo. Schools in Roxburgh and Millers Flat are open.
The highways in the district were open, with the exception of sections of State Highway 85.
There were no mail deliveries in most of the district, for the second successive day.
Wanaka
It has snowed overnight and the roads are again very icy with a thin layer of ice on top but they are navigable. Most schools and early childcare centres are opening at 10am but there are no school buses today, though.
Treble Cone and Cardrona ski-fields are open. Cardrona is reporting variable visibility and cold southerlies. The Snow Park and the Snow Farm are on hold.
The Winter Games events at the Snow Park and Snow Farm are also on hold.
Clive James, Downer EDI road works supervisor, said today was "the same as yesterday''. He was advising motorists not to go out, if they didn't have to.
If people do go, they would be "mad'' not to take chains, especially in two wheel drives.
"It could get decidedly worse before it gets better,'' Mr James said.
It was snowing at Makarora this morning and the road works crew was ploughing its way to the Haast Pass at 7.30am. Mr James said "I would bet my britches it will be impassible at the moment''.
The Crown Range Rd had night crews working on it all night, so it is open, but extremely icy and chains are essential, he said.
Yesterday
Yesterday, people woke to 10cm-30cm of snow on Dunedin's hill suburbs and up to 5cm to sea level after a stormy night. Winds gusts of up to 80kmh were recorded along the coast from about 2am.
A pole was blown on to a house, power cut, a chimney knocked over, roof tiles lifted and a garage door blown in.
By morning, snow had forced the closure of the Northern Motorway, some city streets, schools, businesses, and city council services. The Northern Motorway was reopened early yesterday afternoon, and closed again last night because of snow.
Emergency services reported a quiet day.
Dunedin Hospital cancelled elective surgery and outpatient clinics and called in the four-wheel-drive clubs to ferry staff and deliver meals on wheels.
The Dunedin District Court was also closed.
Chains were required on ambulances on the hill suburbs.
NZ Blood Service collections were also disrupted, with the Dunedin Donor Centre closed and the Mosgiel mobile collection cancelled.
For a second day in a row, the temperature in Dunedin hovered around 1degC-3degC for most of the day, with the strong southerlies along Otago's coast dropping it to about -10degC.
In Queenstown, winds gusted to 70kmh and the temperature was -1degC about lunchtime, with a windchill of -7degC.
In Oamaru, wind gusts of 43kmh were recorded, with the temperature at 4degC.
Delta network services manager Lindsay McLennan said strong winds at 2.25am and 6.15am resulted in snow-weighted tree branches touching high-voltage power lines, cutting power in several exposed areas.
About 2100 consumers on the Peninsula, Mt Cargill and the Taieri Mouth Rd area were without electricity until line crews were able to access the areas.
Power was restored to most customers before daylight, with supply restored to all but a few by 1.30pm, he said.
In Central Otago, a tree hit lines at 3.48am, which affected 490 homes in the Bannockburn and Ripponvale areas.
Power had been restored to about 400 homes at 5.47am and the remaining 90 at 8.21am.
Power demand had been high throughout the day, at similar levels to the last snowfall a fortnight ago. Dunedin International Airport chief executive John McCall said most of the 100 people left stranded at Dunedin airport yesterday had been cleared, although a few remained in Dunedin.
Three or four flights landed and took off yesterday, with problems at other airports around the country resulting in other cancellations.
He advised travellers to contact their airline before going to the airport.
Queenstown Airport was closed all day, with management to make a decision this morning about reopening.
Adverse weather conditions forced some Oceana Gold workers to spend the night at Macraes, with supplies and extra staff brought in by helicopter yesterday, chief operating officer Mark Cadzow said.
The closure of the Northern Motorway forced the NewZealand Symphony Orchestra to cancel its Dunedin performance last night.
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research climate scientist Georgina Griffiths said the cold snap, similar to that of two weeks ago, was not unusual for Dunedin and did not not break any records.
The snow two weeks ago and now were the first major cold snaps since May 2009 and follow about 18 months of warmer-than-normal temperatures.
"This could be a 10 or 15-year event."
However, it was not unusual for cold outbreaks to hit the entire country, with significant events recorded in 1976, 1978 and1992.
"There have been numerous events where the Antarctic door has opened."
The roads
- Care required on all Otago and Southland roads.
Closed: SH85 Kyeburn to Palmerston; SH87 Outram to Kyeburn; SH93 Clinton to Mataura; SH8 Omarama to Tarras; SH94 Lower Hollyford turnoff to Milford Sound; SH96 Mataura to Te Tipua.
Chains essential: SH85 Ranfurly to Omakau; SH8 Alexandra to Raes Junction; SH97 Five Rivers to Mossburn; SH6 Makarora to Hawea, Makarora to Haast; SH94 Retford to Lower Hollyford turnoff; SH83 Kurow to Omarama; SH6 Queenstown to Kingston.
Caution ice/snow: SH1 Dunedin to Waikouaiti; SH8 Raes Junction to Alexandra; SH6 Cromwell to Queenstown; SH6 Kingston to Five Rivers.
Dunedin Closed: Mt Cargill.
