Australia weather: Polar blast set to bring icy winter temperatures to Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart
Freezing Arctic storm will hit Australia’s east coast bringing icy temperatures all weekend plus a fresh wind of SNOW: ‘Feels like it’s the middle of winter’
- Polar blasts sweep across southeastern Australia
- Freezing temperatures will hit the East Coast this weekend
- NSW, Victoria, Adelaide and Hobart would freeze
Australians have been told to brace for cold and wintry conditions all weekend as an icy blast brings heavy winds, rain and freezing temperatures.
A cold front will bring winter to Victoria, NSW, South Australia and Tasmania for the first time this weekend.
By Friday morning, a fresh blanket of snow had already been dumped over NSW’s Snowy Mountains and the Victorian Alps.
Residents of Victoria and Tasmania will be the first to feel the cold on Friday as the front brings cool air and strong winds.
The East Coast will freeze over this weekend as a cold front shows off winter states like Victoria, NSW, Adelaide and Tasmania for the first time (pictured is a Weatherzone map)
East coast ski resorts have received a fresh blanket of snow in the past 24 hours and more falls are expected over NSW’s Snowy Mountains and the Victorian Alps
Jenny Sturrock, from the Bureau of Meteorology, said the cold front would bring rain to Victoria, Adelaide and Tasmania on Friday.
The system will then spread to NSW before heading to the Tasman Sea next week.
The meteorologist said that in the aftermath of the cold front “there would be very cold air left behind, with minimum temperatures dropping.
Widespread frost is expected in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and SA.
Snow is expected to fall below 600m in Tasmania and 800m in Victoria on Sunday, with snow reaching below 900m in the aftermath of the Arctic explosion.
The combination of the polar blast and cold air could lead to waterfalls over 8 inches in the Perisher Valley as temperatures plummet in the mountains.
Footage from Perisher (pictured) showed a midweek blizzard at the popular ski resort with a thick layer of snow covering nearby peaks and slopes
Forecasters say it will feel like July instead of May, with temperatures dropping to -5 and highs around freezing in the mountains.
Perisher reported 6 inches of snow on Thursday, while Thredbo had 6 inches and Mount Hotham in the Victorian Alps had 2 inches of snow.
Footage from Perisher showed a midweek blizzard at the popular ski resort with a thick layer of snow covering nearby peaks and slopes.
“We can get used to this, bring on the winter,” the resort posted on Thursday with the series of winter photos on its Facebook page.
“We could get used to this, bring on the winter,” Perisher Ski Resort posted on its Facebook page on Thursday, alongside the series of wintry photos (pictured)