Schools and roads closed, power was off for thousands and a skifield shut due to avalanche risk after a snowstorm swept across parts of the South yesterday.
Black Friday turned into a whiteout as much of Central Otago and parts of the Queenstown Lakes area were blanketed with snow.
It was patchy in Southland and much of the Upper Clutha basin but snowfall was heavy in and around Queenstown, the Maniototo and around Alexandra.