Winter has officially begun as an icy blast over large areas of Australia, bringing chilly temperatures, snow and bitter winds.
Parts of Australia experienced the coldest temperatures of the year on Wednesday as cold conditions pounded the southeast corner of the country.
Snowfall occurred overnight near Melbourne and Sydney as residents of both capital cities were forced to shiver through high-speed winds as a cold front and low pressure system barrel east from South Australia on Wednesday.
The Alpine region of Victoria and the Central Tablelands of New South Wales west of Sydney both experienced heavy snowfall, with residents west of Blaney, Bathurst, Oberon and Lithgow all reporting falls.
Melbourne – which is forecast to top 12C on Wednesday – recorded a low of 4.4C at Melbourne Airport just after midnight, while Fernie Creek, in the Dandenong Range, dropped to 1.8C.
Perisher cut 30cm of fresh snow overnight, marking the start of winter, allowing cars to snow
No sun was visible on Wednesday morning as residents of Hazelgrove near Oberon woke up from snow
In the Alpine region of the state, the mercury was hovering at -6.1C in Falls Creek this morning after accumulating 22cm of snow in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, temperatures in the Sydney Basin are set to drop to at least 6C, and winds reach 90km/h on Wednesday.
Snowy conditions have also been set for western Sydney, where Liverpool, Richmond and Campbelltown are all facing the top of the 14C.
However, Harbor City won’t be the coldest part of the state, with Cabramura and Selwyn, both in the Snowy Mountains, slated to top -1C.
In nearby Oberon – where more than 700 meters of snow are expected to fall on Wednesday, the wind is only set to climb to a maximum of 3C, while Orange is expected to reach 5C and Bathurst 7C.
As some areas turn white, severe weather warnings are also in place for the southeast of Australia, with damaging winds extending to the Queensland border in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.
Sydneysiders have woken up to one of the coldest days of the year, with temperatures only set to top 15C on Wednesday.
Snowfall occurred overnight on the Central Tablelands, west of Sydney. Pictured: Oberon
Weather map shows wind speed extending to Victoria in NSW as the state grapples with devastating gusts
In South Australia, a Strong Wind Warning is in place for the Lower South East Coast, with a wind gust of 107 km/h recorded at 3.22 am at Cape Otway and 80 km/h at Port Phillip between 6.30 am and 7 am. The wind is blowing at a speed of
Harmful winds of up to 90 km/h are possible east and east of the Great Dividing Range from Ilavra to Queensland, while peaks of up to 100 km/h are possible over the range in the southern parts of New South Wales and to the east.
Locations that could be affected include Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong, Nora, Armidale, Canberra and Goulburn.
The Bureau of Meteorology has also warned that blizzards are likely in places above 1800 m and in NSW above 1200 m, with speeds of up to 100 km/h possible on the Alpine peaks in Victoria.
Parts of Victoria – Geelong, Melbourne, Morwell, Traalgon, Sail and Moe – have also been put on alert, with winds up to 90 km/h expected around coastal and highlands, including metropolitan Melbourne.
Winds are very likely in Victoria around noon and in New South Wales in the afternoon or evening.
Pictured: Snow covered land in Black Springs on the Great Dividing Range west of Sydney on Wednesday morning
Wind warnings continue in the south east of Australia, gusts of 90 km/h are expected in some areas
While Sydney will feel cold on Wednesday with strong winds, the temperature of 15 degrees Celsius is not the lowest temperature so far this year.
It was actually on April 20 when Observatory Hill in the inner city recorded a maximum of 14.9C.
But as the country enters the winter season, the weather becomes more pleasant.
Wednesday marked the third day that a wind warning has been issued in NSW as winds in excess of 100 km/h are seen in some parts of the state.
On Monday, exceptional winds were recorded at Lord Howe Island (148 km/h), Mururundi (128 km/h) and Scone (109 km/h).
The snowy mountains were filled with flakes overnight, the perisher turned white
Perisher will open this weekend on Saturday 4 June – a week earlier than planned after temperatures dropped to -5 last night
Wild conditions have left thousands of homes across the state without electricity, with OsGrid reporting 2148 Sydneysiders were affected by 48 unplanned outages at about noon on Tuesday as trees fell on power lines.
While it was restored for several nights, power is currently off at Anna Bay, Boat Harbour, Fisherman Bay and parts of the surrounding suburbs.
Despite the extreme feeling, experts say chilly weather is not unusual for this time of year, but it has come as a setback in recent weeks due to unseasonably hot and wet conditions.
Instead, as temperatures gradually acclimate, the sudden change has given the illusion that the weather is too cold.
Temperatures in the country’s southeast on Tuesday fell three to six degrees below the May average as the southern hemisphere said goodbye to autumn.
Severe weather warnings continue for southeast Victoria on Wednesday, with winds expected to reach more than 90 km/h in some areas
However, Helen Reid, a meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology, says it’s normal for temperatures to dive around this time of year.
“We always see some beautiful snow falls in NSW and Victoria at the end of May, and then all the snow is gone again by the time the ski season opens in June,” he said. Sydney Morning Herald,
‘Therefore the cold period at the end of May is quite regular.’
Meanwhile, widespread rain is occurring in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with unseasonal rain, cloudy and cold conditions extending inland into the Northern Territory and South Australia.
Records were broken on Tuesday as several cities in the Pilbara region – Newman, Paraburdu, Telfer, Marblebar and Roborn – all had the coldest day ever.
Perth is expected to receive one or two showers on Thursday, before the city will remain cloudy, starting the weekend.
The Pilbara region of WA is receiving widespread rain and inland is covered by NT and SA. pushing in
In Adelaide, residents will need umbrellas for the rest of the week, with rain forecast from Friday to Tuesday as the mercury remains 8C to 15C.
Thursday will usher in warmer weather for Sydneysiders, bringing the top 18C that will continue through next week. The weekend will start with mostly sunshine before the clouds arrive on Sunday.
Melburnians can expect a wet and cold weekend with rain starting Friday, with maximum temperatures in the low teens after minimums drop to an icy 5C on Thursday.
It will be even more refreshing in Canberra, with temperatures dropping to -2C on Thursday to a maximum of 12C. The rain will last from Friday to next week, and the temperature will be in the range of 0C to 11C.
Hobart will be slightly warmer, sitting between 4C to 14 in the coming days. Thursday and Friday will be cloudy, with a chance of rain over the weekend.
After a sunny Thursday, Brisbane will see partly cloudy skies and possible rain next week, with temperatures dropping to 7C to 20C.
However, the upper end will remain warm, with Darwin hovering around 23C to 33C on most sunny days.