It's summer ... or so we thought, until this morning when the ski resorts woke up to scenes so snowy they could easily be described as mid-winter.
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And that's not all, folks. More snow is forecast for the ski resorts south of Canberra. The Bureau of Meteorology says there's a "high" chance of it on Friday in both Perisher and Thredbo.
Cameras at both resorts showed expanses of white on Friday morning.
Temperatures will remain low over the weekend there before warming up next week.
![Perisher last week, snapped by a visitor, compared with snowfall overnight on Friday. Pictures Arety Kr-m, Perisher Resort Perisher last week, snapped by a visitor, compared with snowfall overnight on Friday. Pictures Arety Kr-m, Perisher Resort](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XBxJDq6WLub2UphQ8wEq23/cb827ca5-017c-4903-9d4b-80090d0a337b.png/r0_0_1200_675_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A maximum of two degrees was forecast for Friday at Thredbo, rising to five on Saturday.
The low temperatures stem from an unseasonal cold snap pushing across southern Australia.
It's part of the pattern across south-eastern Australia.
The cold snap, coming straight from the Antarctic, will drop Saturday's temperatures below 10 degrees around Mount Wellington in Tasmania.
But Hobart will get up to 20 degrees through the day.
IN OTHER NEWS:
![Mount Perisher on Friday morning, as seen by the resort camera. Mount Perisher on Friday morning, as seen by the resort camera.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/steve.evans/9b76c0d9-212e-411d-b4fe-74e3448391e2.jpg/r97_0_1080_551_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Southern snow while northern Australia swelters
Sydney will benefit from the fresh weather, with westerly winds expected to reduce humidity after a record wet summer.
Sydney's weekend temperatures are forecast around 30 degrees with minimal cloud cover and a light breeze.
North of Sydney, temperatures are set to climb.
Grafton in northern NSW is forecast to reach 38 degrees on Friday, and expect humidity.
![Heatwave Situation for 3 days starting Thursday 2nd February 2023. Picture by the Bureau of Meteorology. Heatwave Situation for 3 days starting Thursday 2nd February 2023. Picture by the Bureau of Meteorology.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/194363481/760ccc1a-fbaa-4b6b-aa7e-7f92de055de4.png/r0_0_608_640_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The BOM has issued low-intensity and severe heatwave warnings along the eastern coast of Queensland, with humidity accompanying days above 30 degrees.
Rainfall in Queensland's coastal north could reach 100 millimetres over several days.
Tropical inland Queensland and the NT could reach 200 millimetres in rainfall.