Sydney ushers in winter with coldest day of the year as two trucks crash on icy roads

New South Wales has ushered in winter with the coldest day of the 12 months in Sydney and snow falling on the central tablelands.

The low temperatures have created harmful situations on the roads with ice and snow inflicting two vehicles to slip off the Nice Western Freeway close to Diamond Swamp Highway early Wednesday morning. Motorists in each instructions had been being warned to keep away from the freeway.

Temperatures had been anticipated to hit 15C on Wednesday within the metropolis, however the wind chill is making it really feel so much colder.

The state is being lashed by a chilly entrance and low-pressure system that has moved in from South Australia bringing with it rain, snow and livid winds.

Western Sydney residents confronted gusts as much as 100km/h in a single day with the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) issuing a extreme climate warning for damaging winds of 60-70km/h on and east of the Nice Dividing Vary.

A number of areas by way of the Illawarra have additionally recorded wind gusts in extra of 90km/h, whereas Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong, Nowra, Armidale, Canberra and Goulburn are all more likely to cop extreme climate.

The Nice Western Freeway was closed between Marrangaroo and Kelso after two vehicles got here off the street in separate incidents.

A picture shared by Bathurst MP Paul Toole confirmed one of many vehicles on its facet surrounded by ice and snow.

“At each places, vehicles have slid off the freeway because of snow and ice,” he stated.

“We anticipate the freeway to be closed for quite a lot of hours and all detour routes are impacted by snow.”

The BoM stated very windy and chilly situations had been more likely to persist all through the day as a high-pressure system strikes over western components of the state.

The NSW snowfields will open early this weekend, with Thredbo resort reporting 19cm of snow falling over the past six days and Perisher recording 22cm over the identical interval.

Saturated floor from the drenching NSW copped over the previous couple of months brings an elevated threat of gusting winds toppling timber and powerlines, notably alongside elevated terrain.

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The SES has responded to about 1,400 requires assist since Monday with falling timber inflicting the best hazard.

Sydney is predicted to document its coldest day of the 12 months on Wednesday, with solely 10 June days within the earlier 4 years with temperatures beneath 15C.

On 20 April, a temperature of 14.9C was recorded, however Wednesday’s wind chill issue was anticipated to make it so much colder.

The plummeting mercury comes after Sydney recorded its wettest autumn on document.

The state capital’s 1,008.4mm between March and Could is the town’s highest autumn complete in information courting again to 1859, stated Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino.

The January to Could interval was additionally Sydney’s wettest on document.

With AAP