THE snow has fallen and we’ve shivered through our coldest day of the year yet. But there is more of winter’s wrath on the way.
We will be hit with a second cold front later in the week, and more snow falls are expected as far north as Queensland.
If you thought the weekend’s weather was freezing, you were right with the mercury across many of the capitals struggling to hit double digits.
Sydney suffered its coldest morning of the year yesterday dropping to just 5.6C in the CBD.
Today is expected to be slightly warmer, with an expected high of 13C, but the temperatures across the Blue Mountains remained at zero at 8am this morning.
Maximum temperatures will remain in the low teens for most of the week with a minimum of 8C or 9C, while temperatures will reach a top of 8C-10C over the central and southern slopes.
Snow is not only expected over the Alpine regions, but is also likely to fall west of the Blue Mountains including Orange and Oberon as well as parts of the Northern Tablelands.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jordan Notara told news.com.au a second cold front was expected to hit again this week.
He said while it would be freezing, the latest front was unlikely to produce the same snow falls as last week.
Mr Notara said the minimum temperature across Sydney would hover around 8C-9C and that the city itself would remain fairly sheltered from the front.
But it would be felt outside the city fringes in places such as Richmond, Bathurst, Orange and the Blue Mountains.
“Places like Katoomba will have temperatures between 0-7C and winds may make it feel even colder,” he said.
Further south, Victorians will have a slight reprieve in the weather jumping up to 14C and 15C tomorrow and Wednesday, but it won’t last long.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Michael Efron told news.com.au that the second cold front will send the mercury plummeting all over again.
“The next cold front will see temperatures fall again with highs of around 12C,” he said.
“There will be more snow, not just in the Alpine areas but to levels as low as 1200m.”
Mr Efron said the state’s ski resorts had seen falls of between 30cm-40cm over the past week with temperatures falling to a chilly -7.6C.
“Yesterday was the coldest day of the year in Melbourne, with a low of 3C in the morning,” he said.
“Today the cloud cover and breeze saw a warmer 6.6C but it won’t get much above 12C.”
Queenslanders also shivered through freezing temperatures with Brisbane residents experiencing a below average 4.6C morning.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Annabelle Ford said the city would reach a high today of 15C, before hitting the low 20s by the end of the week.
Snow was possible for the Granite Belt and in the Darling Downs region but Ms Ford said sleet was more likely.
“Frost is certainly expected inland,” she said. “There will also be strong winds today and tomorrow along the coast which may make it seem colder than it is.”
South Australia will mostly be spared from the next cold front, however Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Stephen Wood warned it could brush the southeast of the state.
Temperatures will reach a maximum of 15C-16C for most of the week.
Mr Wood said Tasmania and Victoria would experience the coldest conditions but said that this front had the potential to push up along the NSW north coast.
“This cold front will start to bite around Wednesday night and Thursday and will stick around on Friday and Saturday,” he said.
“Tasmania will have maximum temperatures of between 12C-14C but overnight it won’t get much above 5C-7C.
“Snow is certainly possible particularly in the Alpine areas but could also fall lower in areas of Victoria and NSW down to 1200m.”
Mr Wood said cold fronts were not unusual at this time of year but that they were a shock after such a mild May and autumn.
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