There were road closures, heavy snow falls and power cuts for tens of thousands of household.
It is likely the storm was even bigger than Australia possibly covering an area as wide as 4000 kms, Weatherwatch.co.nz said.
In the central North Island, 58,000 homes experienced blackouts as trees and power lines took a battering in the gale-like conditions. Power was later restored to all except some 200 households, reported NZPA.
There were also 19 major slips in roads in the Ruapehu area that will cost $1 million to repair, reported NZPA.
Buildings and powerlines were struck by lightning, trees were uprooted, and roofs lifted, weatherwatch.co.nz reported.
The site also reported gales along the West coast of the South Island as well as heavy snow and bitterly cold chills in Southland and Otago.
Christchurch was spared the gales, snow and thunderstorms. However, it was hit with aftershocks still affecting the region after the 7.1 magnitude quake that struck two weeks ago.
The largest aftershock of 4.6 magnitude was centred 20km west of Christchurch at 12.30 a.m. It hit on Monday morning and was the first since Saturday.
GNS Science seismologist Warwick Smith said it was a slow process but the aftershocks were becoming less frequent, the NZ Herald reported.
