A cold polar airmass has pushed into Tasmania and southern Victoria, while north of the Murray River, it has been a sweltering day in parts of New South Wales, especially in the north and east of the state.

Let’s take a closer look at the contrasting weather conditions this Friday afternoon, in the warm and chilly airmasses either side of a cold front sweeping across the southeast corner of the country .

Cold in Tasmania and Victoria

Heavy snow has fallen in Tasmania, with ongoing snowfalls expected overnight and into the weekend. This was the scene at Mt Mawson, about 90 minutes northwest of Hobart, on Friday afternoon.

Hobart is shivering through its coldest day of 2026 to date this Friday, with an early maximum of 14.5°C at 11:33am. But since midday, the mercury has hovered between 10 and 12 degrees during daylight hours, with a "feels like" temperature of just 2°C at 2pm.

On the mainland, Melbourne reached 18.5°C just before 2pm, which isn’t unusually chilly for autumn, but strong northwesterlies have made the apparent or “feels like” temperature up to five degrees cooler all day, and the coldest air in this system is yet to arrive.

Melbourne is expecting maximums of 17°C and 16°C on Saturday and Sunday respectively, ahead of a gradual warming trend in the new week.

The polar airmass is also yet to reach the Victorian and New South Wales ski resorts, where a few flakes will fall overnight and into the weekend, although snowfalls will be much heavier in Tasmania due to more available moisture.

Heat in New South Wales

Sydney didn’t get quite as hot as expected this Friday due to high cloud which spread across the city during the morning, keeping a lid on diurnal heating.

The hottest temperature in the metropolitan area to 3pm was 31°C at Penrith in the outer western suburbs, while the city reached 28.2°C just after 1pm.

Further north in the state, the mercury topped 38°C at a few locations, including:

38.9°C at Brewon, a rural locality in the Central West Slopes and Plains forecast district

38.4°C at Walgett in the North West Slopes and Plains forecast district, a record for April in data going back to 1993 (both this Thursday and Friday broke the old April record of 36.7°C)

Image: Forecast NSW maximums according to the ECMWF model for this Friday, April 10, 2026, with the hottest zone near Walgett in the state's north. Source: Weatherzone.

Northern parts of New South Wales will remain warm on Saturday, albeit with maximums a few degrees less than Friday. The south of the state will be cooler, with another significant temperature drop by Sunday.

Sydney is expecting maximums of 27°C and 23°C on Saturday and Sunday respectively, while Canberra is going for highs of 16°C on Saturday and just 14°C on Sunday.