Snow has fallen in parts of New South Wales on the first day of winter, with one snow field set to open early, as wild weather continued to cause havoc.
Residents at Blayney, Bathurst, Oberon and west of Lithgow have reported falls on Tuesday night, as temperatures plummeted.
Reykha Levi works between Bathurst and Lithgow and says the snow is very deep.
"It's pretty heavy ... it is settling on the road, and it is pretty thick; it's up to your ankles," she said.
"We have a few staff members living in Bathurst; they can't turn up in the morning because of the heavy snow and the roads are closed."
"I have been working here for the last seven years and so many times I've seen this happen."
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says temperatures fell overnight to 1 degree Celsius in Orange and around 1.5C at Bathurst.
But the "feels like" temperature was much worse.
In Orange it "felt like" -8C.
Meteorologist Helen Reid says strong winds are driving down the temperatures.
"More in the eastern part of the Tablelands but it does mean it'll still be a windy day in the western part of the Tablelands as well."
Freezing farms
Livestock producers were given some warning about the freezing conditions.
Horses have been rugged up and sheep and cattle have huddled together to protect themselves from the gusty winds.
James Gilmore farms sheep and cattle at Black Springs near Oberon which has received a widespread dusting of snow.
"The livestock do take a bit of a hit during these cold times," he said.
"They're certainly not going forward, they're probably only just holding body condition and if not losing some.
"So it takes its toll on them, and especially going through lambing can take a bit on your lambing percentages if you're right in the middle."
But he said the wintry weather was part of living on the Central Tablelands.
"I don't think we're worried about it, it's a cold start," he said.
Icy blast
There is some relief in sight.
The BOM says the strong cold front leaving behind Antarctic-like conditions is moving away and temperatures should start rising slightly by Friday.
No more snow is forecast this week.
"That likelihood will have passed," Ms Reid said.
"While we have showers on the forecast, we're not expecting snow as much of a feature given the atmosphere will have moved on in a sense."
Heavy falls in the NSW Snowy Mountains have prompted Perisher ski resort to open early this season.
It announced yesterday it would be opening this weekend on Saturday, following reported falls of 30 centimetres in the past 24 hours.
Snow is continuing to fall in the region today, with the BOM forecasting a high chance of snow down to 1000 metres.
Four schools remain shut today due to the weather, down from 12 closed on Tuesday.
They are Ebor Public, Meadow Flat Public, Thalgarrah Environmental Education Centre and Werris Creek Public.
Wild winds
Strong winds are also causing havoc across the rest of NSW.
The State Emergency Service has responded to more than 1,400 calls for help, with the worst of the weather in the Hunter and lower Mid North Coast.
Spokesman Adam Jones said the strong winds had started moving into the Illawarra.
"It'll be gusting from 70 up to 100 kilometres an hour which is quite substantial," he said.
"All the way up and down the coast we're really asking the community to make some sensible decisions.
"Trees, with how wet the ground is, can fall quite easily which is what we're seeing."
Nearly 4,000 homes across NSW are still without power, down from more than 20,000 on Tuesday.
The worst hit area was on the Mid North Coast.
"Trees definitely have been the highest problem there; lots of debris everywhere, lots of loose items," Essential Energy spokesperson Raylene Myers said.
The damaging winds could make it challenging for crews again today.
"Safety is the number one priority. So, they'll mitigate any risk that they identify but they will continue working where they can to get the lights back on," Ms Myers said.
The president of the Gloucester Business Chamber, Matt Clinch, said power was restored to the main street after 18 hours.
He said the widespread power outage was tough for many businesses, food operators and accommodation providers.
"It was a bit of a shock to some," he said.
"It was a large loss."
