After two days in which snow and gale force winds have blasted Otago and Southland, weather forecasts are predicting no snow or only light falls on Sunday.
Dunedin was predicted to get down to -1 degrees overnight and still have bitter winds on Sunday morning, but further snowfalls are forecast to be limited to the hills.
Invercargill and Queenstown should escape further snow.
The icy blast made many roads treacherous or impassable for drivers today, with Dunedin particularly hard hit.
Some properties have been cut off and businesses were forced to close.
Dunedin police said the only way of driving around the city's hill suburbs was with chains fitted to vehicles.
Some motorists abandoned their cars last night, while about 150 cars were reported stuck on Dunedin's northern motorway before it was closed.
Yesterday's heavy snow shut down the Wakatipu Basin, with roads impassable, and schools and some retailers forced to close.
Even skifields, including Coronet Peak, were forced to close because of icy conditions on access roads.
Queenstown airport was unable to operate, disrupting the travel plans of 1700 people, many trying to get in to the resort for the start of the Winter Festival.
The opening ceremony for the week long Winter Festival had to be cancelled last night and this afternoon organisers decided to reschedule the Big Night Out concert planned for Sunday night to Monday night.
Festival director Simon Green said organisers had been working very hard to get all the bands and equipment into Queenstown but despite their best efforts had simply run out of time.
Yesterday, snow, hail and gale-force winds ripped through the south as near blizzard conditions closed roads and schools, and had vehicles crashing off icy roads.
In the worst of the incidents, a school bus with two passengers slid off the road and tipped over, with the driver taken to hospital; 150 sheep were killed when a stock truck suffered a similar fate; and a whirlwind slammed through an Invercargill suburb, flinging parts of fences and roofs into houses and cars.
Emergency services trying to keep the roads open were fighting a losing battle.
The Te Anau-Milford highway was closed beyond Hollyford Corner yesterday as snow blanketed the alpine sections.
Milford Sound Lodge manager Helen Thomas said the lodge's 20 guests had been warned on Thursday that snow was likely to close the road, and all had elected to stay.
The school bus crashed in treacherous conditions 30km east of Invercargill about 5pm.
It is believed one of the two pupils on board sustained minor injuries.
Emergency services were also called to a four-vehicle crash 3km south of Balclutha at 7.20pm, after a truck ended up on its roof on State Highway 1. No one was hurt.
In Invercargill, Rockdale Rd and Glenalmond Cres residents were stunned after a whirlwind flattened fences, lifted tiles and sent planks of timber through windows. At least four properties were damaged.
Sheep were killed and a truck driver sustained minor injuries after a truck and trailer unit tipped near Waipahi yesterday afternoon.
Dunedin was predicted to get down to -1 degrees overnight and still have bitter winds on Sunday morning, but further snowfalls are forecast to be limited to the hills.
Invercargill and Queenstown should escape further snow.
The icy blast made many roads treacherous or impassable for drivers today, with Dunedin particularly hard hit.
Some properties have been cut off and businesses were forced to close.
Dunedin police said the only way of driving around the city's hill suburbs was with chains fitted to vehicles.
Some motorists abandoned their cars last night, while about 150 cars were reported stuck on Dunedin's northern motorway before it was closed.
Yesterday's heavy snow shut down the Wakatipu Basin, with roads impassable, and schools and some retailers forced to close.
Even skifields, including Coronet Peak, were forced to close because of icy conditions on access roads.
Queenstown airport was unable to operate, disrupting the travel plans of 1700 people, many trying to get in to the resort for the start of the Winter Festival.
The opening ceremony for the week long Winter Festival had to be cancelled last night and this afternoon organisers decided to reschedule the Big Night Out concert planned for Sunday night to Monday night.
Festival director Simon Green said organisers had been working very hard to get all the bands and equipment into Queenstown but despite their best efforts had simply run out of time.
Yesterday, snow, hail and gale-force winds ripped through the south as near blizzard conditions closed roads and schools, and had vehicles crashing off icy roads.
In the worst of the incidents, a school bus with two passengers slid off the road and tipped over, with the driver taken to hospital; 150 sheep were killed when a stock truck suffered a similar fate; and a whirlwind slammed through an Invercargill suburb, flinging parts of fences and roofs into houses and cars.
Emergency services trying to keep the roads open were fighting a losing battle.
The Te Anau-Milford highway was closed beyond Hollyford Corner yesterday as snow blanketed the alpine sections.
Milford Sound Lodge manager Helen Thomas said the lodge's 20 guests had been warned on Thursday that snow was likely to close the road, and all had elected to stay.
The school bus crashed in treacherous conditions 30km east of Invercargill about 5pm.
It is believed one of the two pupils on board sustained minor injuries.
Emergency services were also called to a four-vehicle crash 3km south of Balclutha at 7.20pm, after a truck ended up on its roof on State Highway 1. No one was hurt.
In Invercargill, Rockdale Rd and Glenalmond Cres residents were stunned after a whirlwind flattened fences, lifted tiles and sent planks of timber through windows. At least four properties were damaged.
Sheep were killed and a truck driver sustained minor injuries after a truck and trailer unit tipped near Waipahi yesterday afternoon.
Fairfax Media and NZPA Saturday, 23 June 2007
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