Australia’s wild weather: heat in north, snow in south and a mini-cyclone hits Port Macquarie

Australia’s summer weather continues to throw off extremes with perfect beach weather in Sydney contrasted with a wintry blast in Victoria and extreme humidity and heavy storms in Queensland.

Sydneysiders flocked to the beaches on Saturday as the hot weather continued with a high of 29C and perfect sunny conditions.

Similar conditions are forecast for the city on Sunday with the southern temperature dropping by a couple of degrees.

Meanwhile, Queenslanders sweated out another oppressive night in intense humidity before a southward shift on Sunday that is expected to temper the heat wave.

The national contrast was captured by temperatures of just 15°C in Melbourne and Hobart on Saturday morning, compared to Brisbane’s nearly 31°C.

Similar conditions are forecast for Sydney on Sunday with the southern temperature dropping by a couple of degrees.

The contrast in the national weather was captured by temperatures of just 15C in Melbourne and Hobart on Saturday morning, compared with nearly 31C in Brisbane and mid-20s in Sydney (pictured, bathers at Bondi Beach on Saturday morning)

In Victoria, flurries of snow fell on the alpine towns of Mount Hotham, Mount Buller and Falls Creek after temperatures dipped to 2°C on Friday.

Meanwhile, a mini-cyclone hit the town of Port Macquarie on the north coast of New South Wales on Friday, with strong winds, rain and hail hitting the town around 3pm and leaving 11,000 people without power.

Residents reported that debris was flying “everywhere” as a metal roof was torn from its supports and thrown onto the street along with uprooted trees.

The wild weather started as a small hail storm and quickly intensified as strong winds blew around the city, shaking office buildings and shifting ships docked in the port.

Fire and Rescue NSW said in a statement that gusty winds ripped the roof off an apartment block on Hastings River Drive, one of the main access roads into the city.

They also claim that two gum trees snapped and fell on a car, while another tree was thrown through power lines in the city’s CBD.

Strong winds, rain and hail battered the town of Port Macquarie on the north coast of New South Wales on Friday afternoon, destroying small businesses (pictured) and leaving 11,000 without power.

Residents of Port Macquarie reported that debris was flying “everywhere” as a metal roof was torn from its supports and thrown onto the street along with uprooted trees.

“It was definitely the scariest weather event I’ve ever been in,” Port Jet Cruises deckhand Luke Barry told ABC.

“I felt the office shake and was very afraid that it would start to fly.”

The State Emergency Service received more than 60 calls for help during the severe weather and no injuries have been reported.

Vastly different weather systems are expected to hit the nation with expected differences of 24°C in maximum temperatures between inland WA and the mid-lower East Coast.

Meanwhile, there is an increased risk of tropical cyclone development off the northwest coast of Australia during the week.

Some models even suggest that there could be multiple tropical cyclones in the region by mid-week, however it is too early to tell if they will hit the coast.

Areas of Queensland are expecting to receive more than 100mm of rain early next week.

Parts of the Northern Territory and New South Wales are also expected to receive some wet weather later in the week.

While cooler temperatures persist in the south-east of the country, parts of western and southern Australia could see 44C days in the coming week as a mass of heat builds up in the interior of the continent.

Heavy rain is expected to hit most areas of Queensland early next week and then spread to parts of the Northern Territory and New South Wales (file image)