Weather forecaster David Crow, of Queenstown, said the ground temperature in the resort was -8.7degC and the air temperature was -2.8degC.
The coldest day on record for Queenstown was in 1953, when the mercury dropped to -13.4degC on the ground.
However, spare a thought for Arrowtown residents who woke to find a hoar frost and an air temperature of -8.8degC - hitting just 7.6degC by 9am - and a ground temperature of -12.1degC.
However, it was not the coldest morning this year in the town.
Weather recorder Richard Newman, of Arrowtown, said on June 26 the ground temperature bottomed at -12.6degC.
"This is quite normal for about a week.
"I have seen it [in past years] at -16degC on the grass and the air temperature of about -14degC, but that was back in 1993-94."
Arrowtown Plumbing Ltd's Mark Galbraith said the company had received "at least a dozen" calls about burst pipes because of the cold snap in the last few weeks.
"It probably is more than we've had [by this time] in the last few years.
"We had a little spell just after the snow [last month] and we've been back into it last week and even [yesterday]."
It was Cromwell's turn for a spate of car crashes on icy roads yesterday.
Cromwell emergency services attended four crashes in the morning - two at Bannockburn, one near Tarras and one at the Cromwell end of the Kawarau Gorge.
Three of the accidents involved cars rolling but despite the series of crashes, nobody was injured, Constable Doug Winter, of Cromwell, said.
"Our message is for motorists to take care as there's plenty of ice around, so they need to watch their speed."
Yesterday's accidents followed five on Tuesday morning -one near Poolburn and four crashes attended by Wanaka emergency services, all on icy roads.
- Additional reporting by Lynda van Kempen
