scenic sunday: snow storm.

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http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/

The weather beast brought a dumping of snow. While those on the ski fields enjoy the snow, parts of Southland were declared a civil emergency.

Heavy snowfall has caused the roof of Invercargill's stadium to collapse.

Stadium Southland, which houses an indoor cycling velodrome, lost its roof and suffered significant damage this morning.

The Fire Service was called to the scene at about 11.30am and the building evacuated.

Stadium manager Nigel Skelt told TV3 it was a sad day for Invercargill.

"The building is an iconic one and we have lost it."

He said a group of young tennis players in the building - which is only 10 years old - were lucky not to have been killed or injured.

Southland Civil Defence group controller Neil Cruickshank said the stadium had suffered major damage to the roof and the structural integrity of the building had been compromised.

Weatherwatch.co.nz's Philip Duncan says a bitterly cold wind-flow is causing heavy snowfall and some people have said it's the heaviest they've seen in decades.