South-eastern Australia braces for below-zero temperatures as cold fronts begin moving through NSW, Victoria, SA and Tasmania

Victoria : Much of south-east Australia is bracing for a burst of cold weather over the weekend with temperatures set to drop to zero in many locations in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.Bureau of Meteorology New South Wales regional director Barry Hanstrum said the conditions were associated with a series of cold fronts that will begin moving through NSW on Friday and continue over the weekend.”We’re expecting temperatures will plummet, winds will be fresh to strong, and snow will fall down to low elevations,” Mr Hanstrum said.
Temperatures are expected to drop to single digits or below zero across the south-east during the nights and mornings.
The fronts will bring snow to the Australian Alpine region on Saturday, extending along the Great Dividing Range on Sunday.
Sydney will be snow free, with maximum temperatures in the city not rising much above 15 degrees Celsius on Sunday, with minimums of 8C.
But weather bureau forecaster Sean Carson has indicated Canberra could see snow in the suburbs.”It could be a cold one on Sunday and the chance of snow is very real for Sunday morning, definitely for all around the surrounding hills for Canberra but a fair chance we could see something in the Canberra suburbs as well,” he said.Mr Carson said even if it did not snow on Sunday, Canberrans were in for a cold day.”A top temperature of 7C, which has a fair question mark over it,” he said.
“The coldest July day is about 2.6C, I wouldn’t rule it out it.
“Either way, when you add in the wind chill, it will feel more like -5C. So you have been warned.”
Blizzard-like weather conditions could also dump snow around Melbourne’s outer fringes.
The weather bureau is forecasting sub-zero temperatures in parts of the state and there are expected to be snowfalls as low as 700 metres.
“That is going to catch some of those outer Melbourne suburbs around the Dandenongs, Mt Macedon, around Kinglake and the Yarra Ranges,” duty forecaster Terry Ryan said.”It’s going to continue the cold we’ve been feeling this winter.”