Snow in the lower North Island was caused by air from the Southern Ocean moving onto the Tasman Sea before being diverted onto the western parts of the central plateau.

Many Alpine roads were closed on the 15th after heavy overnight snow. SH6 was closed from Makarora to Haast. The weather made roads treacherous and some cars slid off. On the 16th, snow closed SH7 over the Lewis Pass from the Hanmer turn off (Canterbury) to Springs Junction (West Coast), SH65 between O'Sullivan's Bridge (Tasman) and Maruia (West Coast) and SH93 from Clinton (Otago) to Mataura (Southland). SH93 remained closed on the 16th.

An avalanche warning was issued for the Nelson, Marlborough and Kaikoura alpine regions.

A pair of intense fronts on the afternoon and night of the 14th. An atypical southerly blast up the western side of the South Island combined with heavy rain. The heavy snow was caused by three factors: the Tasman Sea had become a "breeding ground" for low-pressure systems since mid July; the lows had moved slowly, allowing more time for snow or rain to fall; and cold air from the Southern Ocean had been drawn north and then over New Zealand, producing snow rather than rain.

An Alexandra shearing contractor called 2008 the worst season for the past 20 years, estimating he was 10-12 days behind in east Otago and northern Southland. Rain and then snow put a hold on any shearing, with the last snowfall dropping them behind. Shearing gangs were without work or wages.

Only 4WDs could make it through SH47 between the Chateau and National Park on the 14th.

The Department of Conservation issued avalanche warnings for the Tongariro National Park, including the popular Tongariro Crossing walking track.

Snowfall was reported to low levels around Taupo.

Motorists were warned to take extreme care on SH5 in the Mamaku Ranges because of icy conditions.

Warnings of high avalanche risk were placed on ranges in Taranaki. The Manganui skifield was closed until the stormy weather settled.

80cm of snow fell on the central North Island mountains.

The streets of Dannevirke were covered with snow on the morning of the 19th after snow fell in the early hours of the morning.

The Desert Road on SH1 was closed between Rangipo and Waiouru on the 15th due to snow turning to ice. Snow temporarily closed the Desert Road again on the 16th. On the 17th, the Desert Road between Rangipo and Waiouru was closed for the third night in a row with heavy snowfall.

Up to 15 cm of snow fell on the Desert Rd overnight on the 18th.

Both the Whakapapa and Turoa skifields were closed for 3 days, reopening on the 18th.

Mount Ruapehu received the biggest snowfall in more than 20 years. On the Turoa Skifield, 25cm of snow had fallen each day since the middle of the week (13th). On the morning of the 15th snow groomers were going past a second floor office window at eye level. More than 2 m of snow had gathered on service building roofs.

A 3.5 m snow base was recorded at Whakapapa ski field, which was the deepest snowfall there since 1995.

On the 19th, the Turoa skifield recorded the biggest snow base measured on a New Zealand skifield - 4.55 m.

Warnings of high avalanche risk were placed on Mt Ruapehu.

The Ohinewairua Station, near Moawhango, had experienced 18 snowfalls this winter, with nine snowfalls during the first 20 days of August, including dumps on five consecutive days.

Ice and snow made roads slippery in the Shannon area on the 19th.

The Taihape area had a light dusting of snow on the 19th with hail through the day.

The extreme winter weather hit lambing hard.

SH48 to Whakapapa Village remained closed late on the 16th because of snow.

On the 19th, a wintry blaze brought snow to both ends of the Wairarapa valley.

Snow fell in Featherston on the night of the 18th.

Ice was also a problem for Lower Hutt commuters, with reports of icy roads in several places.

Black ice on the 20th led to three unrelated crashes that struck within a half-hour of each other on roads leading into Masterton.

A woman received three moderate injuries and was taken to hospital after a crash on SH2 at 6.45am in which her car slid on ice and careered off both sides of the Opaki overhead bridge. The car was also extensively damaged. A Wairarapa Hospital spokeswoman said three other people were also treated for injuries received in incidents caused by black ice.

Farms on Mount Bruce were blanketed in snow on the 19th.

Snow fell on parts of the Rimutaka Hill Road (SH2) on the night of the 18th and on the 19th. Temperatures on the hill were at freezing point on the 19th.

Icy roads were reported in Stokes Valley on the 15th.

The first recorded avalanches on the Tararua Range in nearly 80 years prompted a rare avalanche warning. Heavy snow falls resulted in at least two avalanches and conditions were comparable those in the high Southern Alps in winter. The last recorded avalanche in the range was in 1929.

There were snowdrifts of 2-3 metres.

High country farmers in the Awatere Valley were hit by another dump of snow on the night of the 18th.

On Middlehurst farm, ewes had been trapped in deep snow in the high blocks of the farm for more than two weeks as at the 18th. The farmers had spent around $20,000 on three chopper missions to check the animals and drop feed.

The weather of recent weeks was a 10 to 15 year weather event.

Rainbow Skifield and its access road were closed for almost two weeks from the 12th till the 22nd because of too much snow and the avalanche risk.

The Rainbow Skifield received 100 cm of snow over a few days. There was an average base depth of 3 m - a record - and also drifts of snow that were 4 m or more. When the skifield reopened it had a 2.5m snow base.

At Wairau Pass, a resident was into her fifth day without electricity on the 18th.

Heavy snowfalls on the 15th brought down power poles. Power had been restored to all but 84 houses before it was lost again. Around 600 homes and business in the Tasman District were without power on the night of the 15th. Continuing snowfalls and a lack of access hampered attempts to restore power. About 100 consumers were still without power on the 18th and 45 were still without power on the night of the 21st. The Speargrass, Howard Valley, Kawatiri, Lamb Valley and Glenhope areas had severely damaged lines. The loss of power affected 40 Telecom landline customers as well as mobile coverage.

There was 36 cm of snow on SH6 on the 15th.

SH60 from Nelson to Murchison was closed on the morning of the 16th. The Kerr's Hill Rd to St Arnaud, the Tadmor to Glenhope Rd and the Korere to Top House Rd were also closed. Crews worked 12-hour days during the weekend to clear the roads of snow and trees that fell due to snow dumps. On the morning of the 18th, the Upper Cobb Valley Rd, the Rainy River Rd and the Maruia Saddle-Braeburn Track remained closed.

Many farmers around the Nelson Lakes area had buildings damaged and trees come down under the wight of the snow.

Tasman District Council engineering manager Peter Thomson expected the cost to the district of cleaning up after the snow could be about $100,000.

Snowfalls around St Arnaud and the Nelson Lakes were described as the heaviest in more than 50 years.

Several motorists were rescued from the Hope Saddle on SH6 between Murchison and Nelson on the night of the 14th after risking the closed road.

50cm of snow was reported on the Hope Saddle on the 16th.

Howard Valley farmers had to clear away numerous trees with chainsaws after snow toppled them over. The snowstorm cost one farmer an extra $10,000 in feed and an estimated $20,000 to fix the cattle yards, which collapsed.

Electricity to the Howard Valley was restored on the 21st at 5.55pm after being out for exactly a week.

The snow was 63 cm deep on a Howard Valley farm.

A farmer who farms 10km up the Howard Valley had snow 43 cm deep at the house and 20 cm in other parts of the farm.

At Twynham Station, between St Arnaud and Kawatiri, heavy snowfalls brought down trees, damaged buildings and blocked an access road, as well as cutting power and communications.

On a Howard Junction farm, 50 ewes with twins and 150 ewes with triplets died, despite injections and even though they were in a well-sheltered paddock.

On the same farm, two spans of the woolshed were turned inside out, a lean-to collapsed under the weight of the snow, and 70 percent of the big blocks of manuka were flattened. The farmer, who has been farming at Howard Junction for 60 years rated this snowfall as the most damaging.

Power was out for seven days in Howard Junction after power lines broke. Residents did not get their phone back on until the 21st.

A Kikiwa home received about 50 cm of snow between the evening of the 14th and the morning of the 16th. The resident's church service was cancelled.

A Lake Station farmer who had been farming in the area since 1970 had never seen snow like this. Snow had toppled trees, damaging fences, and caused the roofs of two sheds on his property to cave in.

SH6 was closed between Motupiko and Murchison on the night of the 14th and on the 15th, leaving no way out of Murchison. Black ice, heavy snow and fallen trees kept the road closed for 21 hours from 5pm on the 15th.

Murchison recorded about 20 cm of snow on the 16th.

On the 19th, Nelson residents woke to the month's coldest air temperature of -1.4 deg and the second-heaviest frost of the month at 8.1 degC.

Nelson had the biggest dump of snow to hit the town in 30 years.

In Nelson Lakes National Park, the Hopeless and Cupola huts were closed due to avalanche danger. By the 18th, all tracks in the park were closed because of avalanche risk.

SH63 was closed around St Arnaud between Wash Bridge to Kawatiri Junction from the 14th till the 17th.

About 50 cm of snow was reported at St Arnaud on the morning of the 16th.

Power and phone connections in the St Arnaud area were out intermittently from the 14th till the 17th. People were trapped in their homes for days without power and phone. Areas west of the village, including the Howard Valley, were still without electricity on the 19th.

Thick slabs of snow damaged buildings and felled trees. St Arnaud Alpine Store lost all their perishables when the power went out from the afternoon of the 14th until the 17th. The owner said the loss of stock and business would cost thousands. When the snow melted after covering the village for more than a week, felled trees and fallen guttering littered the village and surrounds.

The heavy snow caused calf losses for at least one farm near St Arnaud - Homestead Farm.

Lake Rotoiti School was closed on the 15th because there was no power.

Speargrass Station was under snow and was without power for six days. The farmer said it was the most snow he had seen since 1973.

A Tadmor Valley farm was blanketed in 32 cm of snow - the biggest dump of snow the family had known in 50 years. On the 18th they were into their fifth day without electricity.

A farm at the top of Tadmor Valley had hundreds of pine trees come down under the heavy snow.

All the Top House accommodation chalets were damaged after veranda roofs collapsed under the weight of snow, smashing windows. The chalets were unusable for a number of days. At another Tophouse Rd property, snow ripped off all the guttering and spouting and collapsed the woolshed.

On the West Coast snow fell as low as 100 metres.

Blizzards that swept in late on the afternoon of the 14th almost entirely isolated the West Coast the next morning. Essential items such as milk and bread were snow-bound at the top of Arthur's Pass, as were deliveries of West Coast mail and The Press.

The Mountain Safety Council issued an extreme avalanche warning for Westland National Park.

A metre or more of snow fell on the western slopes of the Southern Alps. The snow was not only confined to the Southern Alps.

The storm caused West Coast lights to flicker as a result of Transpower wires in the Buller area sagging on to others through the weight of snow.

At 10am on the 15th it was snowing near Blackball, Nelson Creek and Ngahere.

Franz Josef Glacier received a dusting of snow overnight on the 14th.

Haast received a rare snowfall, with snow down to sea level.

Hokitika received brief snow flurries early on the 16th.

Road closures were blamed for Hokitika's only supermarket running out of milk.

Kumara received a dusting of snow overnight on the 14th.

Moana received a dusting of snow overnight on the 14th.

Murchison received 20 cm of snow.

It was still snowing heavily at Otira at lunchtime on the 15th.

Snow wiped out the emergency services repeater station on Kelly’s Range, near Otira, resulting in the police and Fire Service having to rely on landline phones for communication.

Reefton received a dusting of snow overnight on the 14th.

The Mount Hutt area, the Arrowsmith Range, and the Aoraki-Mount Cook region were rated as a high avalanche risks.

A number of roads, including Dyers Pass Rd from Summit Rd to Governors Bay and Summit Rd from Gebbies Pass to Evans Pass were closed on the 19th.

Coastal areas of north Canterbury reported snow on the morning of the 19th.

SH73 from Arthur's Pass to Otira was closed on the 15th and the morning of the 16th. A snow slide and tree falls blocked the highway between Arthur's Pass village and Klondyke Corner on the 15th and an avalanche blocked the highway at Snow Creek, about 1km south of the village, on the morning of the 16th. The road opened after lunch on the 16th, although some cars remained buried. On the 19th, SH73 was open to vehicles with chains only, and snow was causing delays of up to one hour.

The Mountain Safety Council issued an extreme avalanche warning for the Arthur's Pass region.

Officially, 90 cm of snow was dumped on Arthur’s Pass village - less than a 1992 snow storm - although some residents considered it the biggest single dump for more than a decade. Heavy snow was still falling by the evening of the 16th. The area had some near white-out conditions.

In some places there were snow drifts 1.5 m deep.

Primary School pupils on an outdoor education trip to the village had to be evacuated by train when their vehicles were buried in snow on the 15th and other tourists had also been trapped in the village.

Arthur's Pass recorded a minimum temperature of -9.5 degC on the 20th.

At 9am on the 19th it was snowing steadily in central Christchurch, with light snow in the city and heavier snow on the Port Hills.

Christchurch Airport reported snow early on the morning of the 19th.

Children at Cashmere Primary School were told to stay at home for the day because of the snow.

Snow lay about 10 cm thick on the ground around the Sign of the Takahe on the morning of the 19th.

In the Craigburn Valley, there was 30 centimetres of snow.

The Craigieburn Range had a considerable avalanche risk.

Kaikoura reported snow on the morning of the 19th.

The Mountain Safety Council issued an extreme avalanche warning for Mount Cook National Park.

Mt Hutt reported a 2.67m snow base on the 19th.

Six trampers were trapped on a ridge on the Mueller Glacier near Mount Cook for 36 hours by a blizzard which triggered avalanches from the night of the 14th. Avalanches had thundered past 50m to either side of them. They were rescued by helicopter at 9:30am on the 16th. Conditions in the area were described as extreme, with gale-force westerlies and an estimated 1.5m of new snow along the divide.

The Wanaka area had a considerable avalanche risk and the Queenstown region had a moderate avalanche risk.

The heavy snow on the 14th was unusual as it came from the west, affecting Glenorchy, Arthur's Point, central Queenstown and Kelvin Heights but left little in Arrowtown and Frankton.

Roads around the Wakatipu were treacherous. A large tree fell down across the Glenorchy to Queenstown road at Rat Point, just after midnight on the 16th, blocking the road. On the 19th, SH87 between Outram and Middlemarch was closed by snow.

Cold, showery southerlies hit the region on the 18th, bringing sleet and rain, and leaving a light dusting of snow on the hilltops. In Otago there were extensive areas of ice and grit around roads on the 19th.

Some Otago country schools were closed on the 19th because of the conditions.

Stock losses in the past month (since late July) were higher than normal under extreme wet and bitter temperatures.

All schools in Arrowtown were closed on the 15th.

Arrowtown had 2 cm of snow on the 14th.

Arthur's Point had 15 cm of snow on the 14th.

Cardrona Ski Field had 78 cm of snow at the base and about 110 cm at the top station on the 19th.

About 2 cm of snow was reported at Clarks Junction on the morning of the 18th.

Motorists caught out by blizzard conditions on the 14th were stuck on the crown range near Queenstown.

The Crown Range Road was closed as the front reached Wanaka on the 15th. It was also closed to towing vehicles on the 16th.

Frankton had 1 cm of snow on the 14th.

Glenorchy had 18 cm of snow on the 14th - an unusual amount. The snow had come from a predominant westerly airstream.

On the afternoon of the 14th, the speed of the change from sunshine to heavy snow caught a lot of people by surprise. The cold front moved in at about 4pm.

Heavy snow caused traffic problems in Queenstown on the afternoon of the 14th. A bus slid sideways and became stuck on Fernhill Rd and there were several minor crashes.

Fernhill Rd was closed to traffic from both ends on the 14th until snow could be cleared, briefly cutting off Fernhill residents.

On the 14th, snow closed Queenstown Airport from 4pm onwards. Four Air New Zealand flights and a Qantas flight were unable to leave Queenstown, stranding about 1100 passengers. On the 15th, sheet ice prevented flights from landing at Queenstown Airport until 11am. There were a lot of delays and two flights were diverted to Invercargill. On the 17th, a frozen runway temporarily closed the airport. On the 18th, five flights were cancelled after low cloud prevented flights getting in to Queenstown. Passengers were backlogged after four days of disrupted flights.

Queenstown had a -5.6 degC frost on the 15th.

Central Queenstown and Kelvin Heights had 4 cm of snow on the 14th.

All schools in Queenstown were closed on the 15th.

The entrance to the Routeburn Track near Glenorchy was closed on the 15th after a large tree fell on the 40m-wide swingbridge and it collapsed. The bridge was repaired, with about half the bridge having to be replaced, and was reopened on the 3rd September.

A heliskier was buried in 2 m of snow by an avalanche at 3.50pm on the 17th on Temple Peak in the Richardson Mountains. He was airlifted to hospital with suspected hypothermia. At the time, the risk of avalanches in the area was "considerable" and "human-triggered" avalanches were probable.

SH94 from Te Anau (Knob Hill) to Milford Sound was closed from the 15th till the 17th due to fallen trees crushed by snow and a moderate avalanche hazard in the area. It was closed again on the 19th.

There was about 70 cm of snow on the Milford Road on the 16th.

About 1.5 m of snow had fallen above the Milford Road.

In Southland there were extensive areas of ice and grit around roads on the 19th.

28 pupils on a school trip to Deep Cove were delayed on their return home after an unexpected dump of snow on the 15th.

About 10 cm of snow settled at sea level at the Deep Cove school camp centre. It was about 10 years since snow had settled in the area.

The Homer Tunnel recorded 80 cm of snow.

Snow fell in Invercargill on the afternoon of the 16th.

A sudden heavy snowfall blanketed Te Anau on the afternoon of the 14th.

There was about 20 cm of snow in Te Anau on the 16th. Nearly a metre of snow had fallen to road level in some areas.