Snow could fall on Melbourne’s outskirts and in parts of New South Wales as a cold front pushes across the country, bringing freezing temperatures and rain.
Temperatures in Melbourne are not expected to get above 13 degrees Celsius until Tuesday, while similar conditions are predicted for Hobart and Adelaide.
The South Australian capital on Thursday shivered through its coldest day in four years, reaching only 12.6C.
Melbourne commuters were hit with heavy rains as a large front moved over the city from the west during peak hour.
After an already windy day, a severe weather warning remained in place for those in the state’s North Central, North East, Central, and Gippsland regions with gusts up to 95 kilometres an hour predicted.
Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) forecaster Keris Arndt said Victoria’s snow level had been hovering about 1,400 metres this week, but that could drop to 500 metres on Friday.
That means the possibility of snow falling in places like the Grampians, Yarra Ranges and Mount Dandenong.
“There could be some decent flurries, but you’d have to be fairly elevated to see it settle on the ground for some time,” Mr Arndt said.
Conditions over the weekend are expected to be cold and dry, he said.
Ski resorts in NSW and Victoria have enjoyed a week of steady snowfalls.
“It’s getting deeper out there 30cm+ with 20-40cm forecast in the next 36hrs,” Falls Creek resort wrote on Facebook.
Meanwhile Thredbo resort wrote: “We are expecting heavy snowfall tonight and into tomorrow.”
The BoM has predicted significant snowfalls of up to 15 centimetres later on Friday in New South Wales’ Central West, especially Orange, Oberon and Blayney, and lighter snow in the Blue Mountains.
Snow has also been forecast for Friday morning on the Central Tablelands down to 700 metres.
Becky Gollings from the NSW SES said snow should fall in the Alpine areas and the Riverina including the high country of Tumut and Batlow.
She warned the cold front cause traffic disruptions, especially on the Great Western Highway, as it moved across the state.
Cabonne Council at Orange locked all gates to Mt Canobolas this afternoon to reduce the risk of motorists becoming stranded.
The cold snap is fast moving and should start to ease later Friday, the BOM said, however, snow will continue to fall until later in the night.
Canberra is set for a freezing but mostly sunny weekend, with a minimum temperature of -3C predicted on Sunday.
Sydney, Brisbane and Perth are tipped for temperatures in the mid to high teens.
The top end will remain warm, with Darwin staying in the low 30s.
Featured image via Getty
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
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Top Comments
13 degrees is far from freezing
I know right? I live in the mountains and it's -8 up here at the moment. THAT'S freezing!!
i can't upvote this enough. It's winter, put on a jumper or jacket.
Wow, who would of thought we would have weather like this in winter.