KEY POINTS:
The very strong, cold southwesterlies will continue today, bringing
further snow showers to low levels in Southland and Otago.
Heaviest snowfalls are expected to be about the Catlins where another
10 to 15cm could accumulate down to 200 metres between this morning
and early tomorrow.
The southwesterlies may rise to severe gale at times until Sunday
morning in coastal areas from Stewart Island and Bluff to the Otago
Peninsula with gusts to 120 kilometres an hour.
Westerly gales are likely again to hit the North Island today in many
places with the strongest winds gusting to 130 kilometres an hour at times until Sunday morning in eastern areas between Napier and Masterton.
During Sunday the weather conditions should ease as a deep low, south
of the Chatham Islands, moves away.
Dunedin police reported snow falling in the city overnight and continuing this morning.
The atrocious weather also forced the cancellation of the opening ceremony for the week long Winter Festival last night.
This afternoon Queenstown Winter Festival organisers decided to reschedule the Big Night Out concert planned for tomorrow 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.
Skifields in the area were closed as treacherous roads made access difficult.
The only way of driving around the city's hill suburbs was with chains fitted to vehicles, they said.
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 Coronet Peak skifield was forced to close, because of icy conditions on the access road.
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.
Air New Zealand again cancelled flights into Queenstown this morning.
Road closures today include State Highway 94 between Te Anau and Milford, SH6 between Makarora and Haast (Haast Pass), SH8 between Omarama and Tarras, SH6 between Arrow Junction and Cromwell and SH93 between Clinton and Mataura and through the Lindis Pass.
In Invercargill rain and sleet was falling and temperatures were very cold, but police reported no problems. Conditions in Christchurch were clear and icy.
MetService has warned that more heavy snow and gales force winds are due today in Otago and parts of Fiordland and Southland, with snow as low as sea level.
A wind chill factor of -5degC or lower is forecast for the weekend.
Queenstown Airport chief executive Steve Sanderson said only helicopter flights had landed at the airport since about noon yesterday.
The airport, which operates from sunrise to sunset, was open last evening but there were no scheduled flights at that time, he said.
Once the weather cleared the airline would consider putting on extra flights to deal with the backlog.
A Qantas spokeswoman said 530 of its passengers were affected yesterday.
Organisers of the Queenstown Winter Festival, which lasts 10 days, have cancelled or postponed several events because of the weather, including last night's opening party, which was due to be attended by the Prime Minister.
On Thursday there were several accidents in the region.
The worst involved Veronica Lee May Tan, a Malaysian student at Otago University, killed when the car she was in slid into Lake Wanaka.
Three other women were taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia.
In Greater Auckland, strong gusts ripped the roof from a building at Patumahoe in Franklin District and tore guttering from a home at Muriwai in Rodney District.
- with NEWSTALK ZB, NZPA, NZ HERALD STAFF
