If you’re in Sydney right now, you might be aware that things are feeling a bit chillier than usual. With a fierce cold snap engulfing Sydney on August 23, and ample snow falling across Greater Sydney and NSW, it’s clear that Jack Frost has arrived in town and now, he’s making us all wonder how long exactly he’s planning to stay – particularly given that spring is meant to arrive in less than a week.
An icy cold front arrived suddenly on Tuesday, sending temperatures plummeting 10 degrees in 90 minutes in Sydney, bringing hail and freezing winds to many of the city’s west and eastern suburbs. This sudden temperature drop was caused by strong southerly winds arriving just as the cold front hit, leaving us with a distinctly chilly cold air mass that looks set to stay around in town until Saturday.
This cold front has triggered significant snowfall in the Blue Mountains, Lithgow, Orange and Bathurst, with up to 30 centimeters of snow reported to have fallen across the state. Widespread frosts are also set to hit across much of the state’s inland areas, with the Great Western Highway between Katoomba and Mount Victoria having been closed due to black ice warnings.
Although weather scientists have said that the skies will clear up with some blessedly sunny days on Wednesday and Thursday, Sydneysiders will be looking at rain over the next few days as a result of the cold front forming a low-pressure system off the east coast, meaning that we’re all looking at a rainy weekend.
The Bureau of Meteorology have also put out a warning for gale force winds and hazardous surf conditions across the Sydney and Eastern Coast for Tuesday and Wednesday, meaning that people are being urged to proceed with caution and stay out of the water.
This wild weather news comes along with the Bureau of Meteorology's prediction that we in Sydney (and across the eastern seaboard) are all in for another wet spring due to a weather phenomenon known as a negative Indian Ocean dipole, which is apparently happening for the first time for the second year in a row. Compound this with the other (harrowing) meteorologist prediction that we’re in for a third year of La Niña rainy mayhem, and frankly, it might be time to pack up and move permanently to the desert.
Until then: stay strong, rug up in your cutest coat and get outside while it's sunny. There’s still so much to do, even if the heavens are conspiring against us.