Snow coated the Pisa, Old Man, Dunstan and St Bathans ranges, the hills around Queenstown and the Milford Rd yesterday morning as an unseasonal cold snap hit Otago.
Temperatures around the region dropped by about 10degC yesterday, with Dunedin reaching a high of only 10degC and Queenstown 13degC.
Austrian tourist Adrian Furschuss said they were surprised to see the snow, but as Austrians, ''we're used to it''.
The rough weather had been to their advantage as heavy rain on Thursday created spectacular waterfalls during a cruise in Milford Sound, he said.
MetService meteorologist Richard Finnie said it took a special set of circumstances to create the ''very unseasonal'' cold snap - a deep low in the Southern Ocean combined with cold southerly air being propelled off the Antarctic on to New Zealand.
''Unfortunately, Dunedin and Invercargill take it on the nose in that situation.''
But the cold weather was a ''short, sharp blast''.
Showers were expected to ease last night and sunshine and temperatures in the late teens on the coast and mid to late 20s inland were predicted for today and tomorrow.
Another southwesterly cold front was expected to hit Otago tomorrow night, bringing showers on Monday.
''It'll be nothing as cold as you've had.''
A high was expected to bring settled weather by the middle of the week.
