While the weather is causing frustration for some around the country, one region is loving the cold snap.
Mount Ruapehu has had its best dump of snow in fifteen years, and the financial implications are snowballing.
The operators of Ruapehu's Whakapapa and Turoa ski fields have been devastated by a combination of eruptions and successive no-snow seasons.
"To put it in perspective, in 1998 - we're normally open five months - we were open for three weeks, so it's been pretty tough," says Mike Smith of Whakapapa.
This winter, though, has been kind.
"Our customers lost a bit of confidence over the years and with good reason but now there's nothing but snow on the ground and we're expecting a busy season."
It has been so busy they are rushing to employ 700 extra staff.
It is early in the season but already Whakapapa is enjoying a 1.8 metre base of snow, and it is giving the whole region a boost.
"It's like a godsend, it's great," says Gareth Pearce of the Grand Chateau.
Retailers in nearby Owhango are delighted.
"We're 15% up on last year already and really the season hasn't even started," says Peter Bethwaite of the One Stop Ski Shop.
In fact, the Ruapehu District Council says the tourist business is well up all round.
They say that is mainly because businesses now try to exploit summer as well as winter conditions so they are not as vulnerable to a lack of snow.
That is unlikely this year though, as the region prepares for its best season in 15 years.
Southern weather upsets traffic
Southerners are less pleased with the cold snap, with harsh weather upsetting traffic flows heading into the weekend.
State Highway One north of Dunedin was closed for a short time because of surface flooding, and further inland some highways were closed by snow for a time.
Road crews were kept particularly busy on the top of the Lindis pass on State Highway Eight near Omarama.
Chains are still required on some Central Otago roads on Friday night.
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