Melbourne weather: Polar vortex to bring freezing temperatures

A series of cold fronts are forecast to blast the east coast bringing a massive snow dump to the Alpine regions.

The cooler conditions, set to arrive on Thursday, will be a welcome change after a rare spotting of rain over NSW and the ACT earlier in the week.

A series of cold fronts driving the change are expected to bring snow more than 50cm deep to New South Wales’ and Victoria’s alpine regions through to next week. 

Felix Levesque from Weatherzone said rain could see snow melt before settling on Thursday but continued freezing conditions will improve snowfall later in the week

Some snow resorts could see more than 50cm of snow in coming days (pictured, Mount Hotham)

‘The bad news is we do have fair bit of rain on the warmer side of alpine regions on Wednesday. That rain will remain through rest of day causing snowfall to melt away,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘The heaviest rain is over northeastern Victoria’s alpine region and part of New South Wales’ alpine region.

‘However, we do have a series of cold fronts coming in the next few days. Today will be the warmest day for those areas.’ 

Mr Levesque said the temperature in alpine regions will cool through the week and create perfect conditions for NSW and Victorian ski resorts.

‘The cooler temperatures from today will see the snow levels drop,’ he said. 

‘Today’s snow level is about 2000m. Tomorrow the snow is expected to fall down to 1200m, in line with many snow resorts.

‘On Friday the level will drop closer to 1000m and possibly go as low as 700m on Saturday.

‘This could cause dustings of snow over the New South Wales tablelands which could possibly extend to the Blue Mountains, but that’s less likely.’

Temperatures are forecast to drop in alpine regions later this week, with snow possibly reaching as low as 700m

Snow will settle in alpine regions (above) from Thursday with snow expected to fall down to 1200m

Sydney residents woke to a blanket of fog over the city on Wednesday for the second day running.

Photographs taken of the skyline show buildings disappeared beneath the cloud.

‘Fog in Sydney right now looks like someone put a blanket over the whole city,’ a local tweeted.

A snowstorm is forecast to blast Alpine regions by Thursday with up to 80cm of snow set to fall in the following days, Perisher ski resort reported on their website.  

Rain will persist throughout Wednesday with limited visibility making for less than ideal snow sport conditions.

However, a dumping of fresh snow will set weekend skiers and snowboarders up for a bumper powder weekend.

It’s a chilly week is ahead for Canberra residents with daytime temperatures dropping to a maximum of 13C.

An icy morning with a low of 1C is expected on Thursday.

The cold fronts sweeping across the east coast will bring with them gusty winds of about 25km/h.

The most powerful winds will arrive over the weekend with up to 40km/h gusts.

Sydney was covered by a blanket of fog for the second day in a row on Wednesday (pictured, the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Wednesday morning)

A rainy and cold week ahead is forecast for residents of Melbourne with daytime temperatures unlikely to exceed 15C for the next seven days.

Persistent showers and wind will remain consistent in the coming days, with gusts of up to 45 km/h expected on Thursday.

Snow is forecast to fall over Mt Hotham ski resort on Wednesday evening setting the resort up for powder conditions over the weekend.