Australia hit by cold snap: "Coldest temps for two years"
Weather forecasters have warned a “barrage” of cold fronts sweeping across south eastern Australia could bring the coldest weather for two years.
Heavy rainfall, freezing temperatures and gale-force winds are expected in parts of Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and NSW heading into the weekend.
Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino says a low pressure system off the east of Tasmania threatens to blast a wave of polar air across NSW over the weekend.
“This system may cause parts of central NSW to have their coldest day in a couple of years,” he told Nine News.
“For example, Orange may only reach about four degrees on Sunday, which would be its lowest maximum temperature since 3.1 degrees on June 25th, 2016.”
Sydney is likely to see its coldest day since last winter, with temperatures predicted to dip to lows of 8 degrees by Sunday.
Sky News Weather meteorologist Tristan Meyers said the biting winds predicted for the weekend will make it seem much colder that the temperature suggests.
“Ahead of the cold front in Victoria we’ll see very gusty northerly winds including over Port Phillip Bay (Melbourne) including gusts potentially as high as 70km/h and behind it the westerlies will feel very cold,” Mr Meyers said.
“The wind chill is a considerable thing to consider so even though there will be maximum temperatures of around 15C (in Adelaide, it will be colder in Hobart and Melbourne) it will feel much colder, maybe about 10C.”
Temperatures in Melbourne are expected to plummet to lows of 7 degrees for the rest of the week.
Adelaide will also likely experience similar icy conditions until Sunday, with lows of 7 and highs of 16, as well as a spate of showers.
Mr Meyers said the snow line could drop to 1200m or lower with big falls from Friday onwards. The ski fields, such as Thredbo and Perisher, could see temps as low as -6C on the weekend and snow falls of 20-50mm for four days in a row.
“There is going to be snowfall and it’s going to be heavy, potentially as much as a metre,” he said.
“It’s getting cold enough (for the snow) to spread into NSW and maybe even the Central Tablelands could get snow on Sunday morning. It’s going to be a very cold weekend ahead.”