Don't put the scarf and gloves away yet - the cold blast which has brought snow and hail will give the country one final lashing.
The bitterly cold southwest flow remains hovering over the country.
A severe weather watch is still in place for heavy snow accumulating above 400 metres over southern Fiordland, Southland, Otago and Banks Peninsula this morning, MetService said.
The snow - which has affected large parts of the South Island and the central plateau in the North Island - should ease today, however.
No part of New Zealand is expected to exceed 13 degrees Celsius, with most places lucky to see double figures.
Thunderstorms and hail will hit Auckland through to Coromandel and Taranaki this morning, MetService said.
Those were expected to clear after lunch, although some heavy showers might affect Auckland and Northland later this evening.
SNOW, ICE HITS TRAVEL
Snow had closed the Desert Rd in the central North Island overnight, and flurries were falling on the Rimutaka Hill Road north of Wellington.
The Desert Road got at least 5cm of snow overnight, MetService meteorologist Richard Finnie said.
Police said detours were in place but there wintry driving conditions remained. There was a minor crash on the Rimutaka Hill Road but it was not clear if this was snow-related.
In the South Island ice had been reported on SH97 Mossburn - Five Rivers Road, SH6 Athol To Lumsden, and SH8 the Lindis Pass.
Chains were required on SH94 between Te Anau and Milford Sound, while motorists were urged to take extra care due to snow on SH90 Raes Junction To McNab.
LIGHTNING KNOCKS OUT POWER
In Auckland lightning strikes caused power outages in two suburbs overnight.
The strikes hit switch boards in Pukehoke and Papakura about 10.30pm, a Fire Service spokeswoman said.
The Fire Service and police went door to door to make sure people were OK but no injuries were reported, she said.
Power was expected to be back on to these areas this morning, she said.
Vector was also reporting an outage on Waiheke Island, affecting 1236 households, this morning and power was expected to be restored by 7am.
RELIEF FOR SKI FIELDS
Snow blanketed many parts of Wakatipu yesterday, bringing welcome relief to skifields but testing conditions for motorists.
Flurries of fresh snow settled briefly in downtown Queenstown, Frankton and Arthurs Pt while around the region, skifields were enjoying solid snowfall after a dire start to the season.
Up to 20cm accumulated on the skifields. The Remarkables, with a multimillion-dollar terrain expansion and new Curvey Basin chairlift, opens today.
The Remarkables ski area manager Ross Lawrence said 10cm of fresh snow had accumulated by the afternoon. All areas, with the exception of Shadow Basin, were expected to open.
"We're certainly pretty excited. Friday there's some more snow coming in and it's very cold so there's lots of snowmaking. On the first chair the bubbles will be out for sure.
"We'll be celebrating getting up and running, it's up to the public now to come on up, take it in and enjoy."
Last month, southern ski fields - with the exception of Coronet Peak - delayed scheduled openings due to a lack of snow but with school holidays rapidly approaching, the dump spells utter relief.
Source: Stuff.co.nz
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