The severe gale-force winds which ripped through Otago yesterday, toppling vehicles and trees, disrupting power supplies, dislodging roofing and interrupting air travel, have abated.
Northwesterly winds reached the region's high of 140kmh at Swampy Summit, near Dunedin, early yesterday afternoon but began easing last night as rain began to fall.
Dunedin airport recorded gusts of 105kmh and Oamaru airport winds of 107kmh.
Inland gusts hit maximums of 85kmh in Alexandra, 55kmh in Wanaka and 48kmh in Queenstown.
MetService forecaster Ian Gall said the wind was expected to ''lose its teeth'' overnight and turn into a mostly dry day with high cloud and lighter northwesterlies.
Conditions were expected to change again tonight as a cold southwesterly came through, he said.
The winds brought down trees and power lines, causing power cuts and surges on networks around the region.
Delta general manager asset management Adam Fletcher said crews across the Aurora network were getting power back on quickly to hundreds of customers across the region.
Cuts included near Omakau (strong winds) and Arrowtown, Dalefield and Coronet Peak (a lightning strike).
Very short outages or surges in the Roxburgh, Wanaka and Queenstown areas were caused by strong winds and lightning, and tree damage caused cuts in North Taieri.
Residents reported cuts across Warrington and Waitati last night.
PowerNet, which also covers South Otago, could not be contacted.
Network Waitaki's Graham Clark said from Shag Point to Kurow there were many faults of varying lengths, but all except about 50 households had power back on last night.
Alpine Energy Ltd's website reported power went out in Waimate about 3pm yesterday and would not be restored until 6pm today.
Severe gusts on Dunedin's Northern Motorway and in North Otago caused at least two trucks to overturn.
A witness told Constable Jon-Paul Tremain, of Waikouaiti, a truck was hit by a severe gust near Pigeon Flat which ''lifted the passenger side of the cab up on to the other wheels''.
''The truckie has tried to steer it back into the wind to try and get the wheels to sit back down, but the wind was so strong it basically had taken the truck and thrown it across the road.''
The truck rode along the guard rail for 60m before coming to a rest on its side. The driver was taken to Dunedin Hospital as a precaution, while his dog Gypsy was ''left shaking from the experience'', Const Tremain said.
Senior Constable Ewen Graham, of Oamaru, said an empty truck and trailer unit travelling north on State Highway 1, near Alma, was picked up and swung 180 degrees by high winds about 2pm.
Strong crosswinds on the Taieri brought down trees and disrupted flights at Dunedin airport.
By late afternoon, all departures and arrivals had been cancelled except for the late flight from Auckland.
Also affected was a Virgin Australia flight from Brisbane, which was diverted to Christchurch, passengers to be brought by bus to Dunedin.
In Queenstown, the strong winds and low cloud resulted in four domestic Air New Zealand flights being cancelled by 2pm.
High winds also lifted roofs, including at the University of Otago where a temporary cordon was put in place around the Castle lecture theatre, to allow staff to remove roofing iron.
A large section of metal panelling was ripped from the side of the SRS warehouse in Parry St, Dunedin.
In the Waitaki, civil defence emergency services manager Chris Raine said ''rapid'' increases of wind speed were recorded at Omarama yesterday.
The wind speed increased from 6kmh to 61kmh, with gusts of up to 96kmh, in the space of just two hours between 9am and 11am, he said. Mt Cook had severe gale gusts of 116kmh and Naseby Forest had wind gusts of 110kmh.
''In Oamaru, we have attended multiple fires in the Weston area caused by electric power lines failing, arcing and falling on the ground, setting fire to the undergrowth,'' Mr Raine said.
Fallen trees had closed roads in Weston and a power pole had fallen on an industrial building in Tees St, in Oamaru, he said.
Grant Richards, of Pisa Moorings, was passing Nevis Bluff shortly before 10am, when ''loose debris'' came down and showered his vehicle, smashing the sunroof.
The wild weather also forced the closure of the region's main skifields. Some Otago residents lost Sky Television reception last night, probably because the wind blew their reception dishes out of alignment, a Sky spokeswoman said.
A house in Fox Glacier caught fire after being struck by lightning shortly after noon. Fox Glacier Senior Firefighter Gary Scott said a neighbour of the property had used a garden hose to help extinguish the small fire, which was mostly out by the time the volunteer fire brigade arrived.
A severe electrical storm shook buildings and set off car alarms in Wanaka from early afternoon into the evening.
However, police received no reports of any problems.
