Wild autumn weather delivers snow, storms and power cuts to eastern Australia | Australia weather
Thousands of Australians woke without power on Friday after a series of wild autumn storms soaked communities in multiple states – and the high country recorded its first big snowfall of 2026.
While many storm watchers kept their eyes on the west and the path of Tropical Cyclone Narelle, Australia’s east coast was slammed on Thursday night, with more warnings in place for Friday.
Tens of thousands of people in New South Wales lost power late Thursday, with about 4,000 homes still in the dark on Friday morning.
A severe storm swept across the state, causing chaos for commuters, with trains and Metro services cancelled on Sydney’s north shore.
State Emergency Services recorded 400 incidents statewide, including 46 in Dubbo which was badly affected by severe thunderstorms.
Severe winds partially collapsed a crane on a building site in the central west NSW city, with footage on social media showing a crane operator escaping just in time.
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Emergency crews responded to multiple reports of fallen trees that damaged cars and tangled powerlines.
Fans at Brookvale Oval were forced to take cover before the NRL game between Manly-Warringah and the Sydney Roosters as the ground was inundated with rain.
Meanwhile the temperature dropped below zero in parts of NSW’s central, southern tablelands and Snowy Mountains on Friday, while many in the country’s south east felt the chill of single-digit temperatures.
In Orange, in NSW’s central west, it was just 2C overnight with residents there in and in nearby Millthorpe waking up to snowfall. On Thursday, the mercury reached 26C at Orange airport.
In Oberon, in the Central Tablelands, the temperature dropped to 3C overnight, with a maximum of 9C forecast for the rest of Friday.
The wintry conditions follow a sultry summer during which more than 60 weather stations across the nation recorded their highest daily maximum temperatures yet, and overall Australia had its fifth-warmest summertime night temperatures on record.
Wind gusts above 100km/h were forecast for Friday for many southern coastal areas in NSW as the vigorous coastal low continued to impact large swathes of the state.
In Victoria, wild and windy conditions persisted into Friday morning, with southerly wind gusts of about 90km/h recorded in Melbourne.
Thursday sport was also affected, with most of the first day of the Sheffield Shield final washed out and Geelong’s home AFL game against Adelaide hit by the wet conditions.
Alpine areas experienced their first snowstorms for the year, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting blizzard conditions for areas above 1,600 metres on Friday, and snow falling at Thredbo, Falls Creek and Hotham.
It’s forecast to be a high of 23C tomorrow in Sydney, and 25C on Sunday, while Melbourne is set to see a high of 19C tomorrow and a high of 20 on Sunday.
