A heavy dump of snow on the South Island has shut schools, closed roads and cut off power to several thousand people on Friday.
MetService issued an orange heavy snow warning for inland Otago from 9am to 12pm, and the Canterbury High Country south of the Rakaia River from 9am to 5pm.
It said up to 25 centimetres of snow is forecast to settle above 600 metres in Otago, and up to 20cm in Canterbury, south of the Rakaia river.
Meanwhile, an orange heavy rain warning is in place for Westland until noon, and snow warnings in place until 3pm.
A couple of hundred Central Otago properties are still without power on Friday, but Aurora Energy is confident supply will be restored by the end of the day.
A Central Otago farmer says the snow dump is going to make life harder for farmers after a difficult Autumn.
The snow fall left thousands without power this morning, and closed roads across the lower South Island.
Andrew Paterson from Matakanui Station in Omakau, said if they get snow this time of year it is often followed by a sunny day, but not this time.
"The forecast I think is for it to stay quite cold, so it's not ideal this time of year.
"There's a lot of guys finishing shearing their ewes, some guys are shearing their hoggets. In fact, we are shearing our hoggets at the moment, so it's not the best time of the year."
Paterson said farmers in the area saw little growth in autumn and went into winter with a shortage of feed, so the sooner the sun clears the snow the better.
Three South Island highways that were closed because of snow and ice have reopened.
State Highway 94 from Te Anau to Milford Sound reopened after helicopters were used to trigger avalanches, reducing the risk to motorists.
State Highway 80 to Aoraki/Mt Cook and State Highway 6 through the Haast Pass are clear too.
Road snowfall warnings remain in place for the Porters and Arthur's Passes between Canterbury and the West Coast.
Around 3500 properties were cut off after snow brought down power lines.
Aurora Energy Operations and Network Performance Matt Settle said their teams were making good progress, with outages down to 230 earlier on Friday but numbers are fluctuating a bit.
He said Alexandra, Clyde and Saint Bathans had been the worst-affected areas.
Winter's not done with us yet
MetService meteorologist John Law also told Morning Report next week would see "good, strong southwesterlies" and cold air being pushed up the country.
Snow may be seen on the Desert Road and central plateau but not Auckland.
"I think next week is going to be a reminder that spring is a fairly volatile season with the weather changing pretty quickly," he said.
MetService said more snow is expected on Friday afternoon for the Canterbury High Country, with the heaviest snow expected above 500 metres.
It said it will be a quieter day of weather on the South Island on Saturday with some sunnier skies returning in the afternoon.
However for the North Island it will be a cloudier affair with rain to end the day across much of the island.
The Mountain Safety Council is encouraging backcountry snow enthusiasts to stay informed and stay safe this weekend, with increased avalanche danger in many parts of the South Island.
The Avalanche Advisory, operated by the Mountain Safety Council, is currently forecasting high avalanche danger in Arthur's Pass, Aoraki/Mt Cook, Ohau, Queenstown, Wānaka and the Aspiring regions. This follows significant snowfall, combined with unstable weather conditions, that are set to continue over the weekend.
"A high rating signals very dangerous avalanche conditions, where naturally occurring avalanches are likely and human-triggered avalanches are very likely. In these conditions, travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended," chief executive Mike Daisley said.
"As the storm clears, a conservative approach will be critical for keeping safe.
"Even experienced backcountry users need to be cautious, plan their trips thoroughly, and be ready to adapt to changing conditions. Safety must be the top priority. Equip yourself with the necessary gear and be ready to turn back if conditions deteriorate."
The next MetService update will be at 9pm.
