An Antarctic cold snap brought rare sea-level snow to Wellington and heavier falls across parts of New Zealand's South Island. Roads iced over, one aircraft aborted a landing, and the national grid operator recorded a record morning peak. Wellington experienced sleet and snow to sea level during the cold snap. Dunedin and Christchurch received accumulating snow and students in Dunedin were sent home.
Some highways closed and police responded to vehicles sliding from icy roads. A plane aborted a Christchurch landing because of wind and rain. The cited accounts attribute institutional claims to the officials or organizations making them and distinguish those statements from independently established events.
Sea-level snow is unusual in Wellington. Cold snaps raise electricity demand through space heating. New Zealand's narrow transport corridors can be sensitive to ice, wind and snow. These background conditions describe the setting in which the current development occurred without resolving the decisions or outcomes still pending.
Three South Island locations reached minus 9 degrees Celsius. Grid operator Transpower recorded the highest-ever Wednesday morning electricity peak and warned of a possible Friday shortfall. The chronology and reported quantities are preserved because later official updates may revise preliminary counts or schedules.
The current evidentiary limit is specific: The duration of closures and the size of any power reserve shortfall were not yet known. The report therefore does not extend beyond the published record on motive, causation, final totals, legal outcome or implementation where those matters remain open.
The next documented developments are Transpower's Friday capacity outlook and highway reopenings and overnight minimum temperatures. Until those records appear, the available account supports the facts above while leaving the identified uncertainties unresolved.