Heriot was in the firing line, enduring strong winds, blizzards and white-out conditions.
The town lost power for two hours in the morning, closing businesses and Heriot Primary School. There was 7cm of snow in the town, with knee-high drifts on Dunrobin Rd, north of Heriot.
Heriot-based West Otago Transport spokesman Graeme Davidson said he sent home two employees who lived out of the area, but, apart from that, it was business as usual.
Tapanui escaped the full onslaught of the storm but residents woke to 5cm of snow on lawns, and frequent morning flurries.
Blue Mountain College, Tapanui Primary School and Kidzway were closed but at the time of going to print, there were no power outages. Riversdale Primary School, Northern Southland College, Pukerau Primary School and Willowbank Primary School were still open for business.
Clutha District Council said almost 18cm of snow had fallen in the higher parts of West Otago, forcing the closure of some roads, especially in the Dunrobin-Moa Flat and Park Hill areas.
