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The most powerful June cold front to move across south-eastern Australia in three years will chill coastal cities but turn alpine resorts into wintry idylls.
Sydney's run of mild days ended on Friday morning with clouds and showers arriving and strengthening afternoon winds to ramp up the wind chill factor. Just before 6pm, the temperature reading for the city was 10.3 degrees but the "feel-like" conditions were 1.9 degrees.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued warnings for wild weather on Friday morning as the front moves across NSW.
Cold temperatures, heavy rain showers and strong westerly winds are forecast for regions stretching from the Mid North Coast to the Snowy Mountains and Riverina.
There are also warnings for damaging winds with peak gusts of 90km/h for the Hunter region, with gale-force winds expected off the coast from Coffs Harbour south to Eden.
Rob Sharpe, a meteorologist with Weatherzone, said a deep low pressure system south of Tasmania was directing a cold front over the country's south-east that was more typical for July and August.
"It's not every year you get a front this strong in June," Mr Sharpe said, noting that Spencers Creek in the Snowy Mountains would have half a metre of snow after the event moves through.
After a wild Friday, the winds will start to ease on the mountain, creating what skiers call a "bluebird day" of fresh snow under clear blue skies by Sunday.
"It's going to be a really great weekend at the resorts," Mr Sharpe said, adding it was great timing for NSW school holidays.
For Sydney, though, conditions will start to chill off by the afternoon as winds pick up and drag in the cold air from the south-west, with the potential for a few showers.
The cool conditions will linger into early next week with tops in the city expected to reach only 16 on Saturday and Sunday and 15 on Monday.
Overnight temperatures in the city will dip into the single digits each night until at least Friday, with 6 degrees tipped for Sunday.
Sunday looks to be the coldest morning in the Sydney region with 1 degree predicted for Richmond.
However, unusually warm sea-surface conditions off Sydney will continue to shield the coast, with Bondi - just 70 kilometres by road from Richmond - expecting a low of 9 degrees on Sunday morning.
'Season defining'
Colin Hackworth, chief executive of the Australian Ski Areas Association, said the storm was "absolutely dumping snow" in Victoria's Mt Hotham ski resort.
"This is turning into a massive snow event - there's plenty of snow falling, and there's more to come," Mr Hackworth said.
As of Friday, most resorts had only a few of their lifts operating, according to industry websites. That would change rapidly as the storm passes.
"The resorts are on track to have top-to-bottom skiing...within the next couple of days," Mr Hackworth said.
With the cold air behind the front, resorts will be able to top up the base with snow-making activities. "The event delivers us a season-defining snow storm," he said. "It's perfect timing for us."
Most of the snow will come from the front itself but inland towns such as Orange and Lithgow can expect a few centimetres of the white stuff as secondary troughs move in behind the main system, Mr Sharpe said.
Friday evening looks likely to have the widest snowfalls, according to the bureau. (See chart below).
The month has certainly had its extremes for NSW, with two east coast lows bringing heavy rains and severe beach erosion in places, and also record warmth for the month.
Casino in the state's north reported 31 degrees on June 9, beating a previous record June maximum in NSW of 30.5 degrees in Grafton back in 2002.
