13 cars collide, five lose control during Snowy Mountains crash
Snow and ice are causing drama on roads across the state with 13 cars including police colliding in a multi-vehicle pile up which forced the closure of a major Snowy Mountains road for more than three hours.
A major road in the Snowy Mountains was closed for more than three hours overnight when up to 13 cars, including police, lost control and collided.
The carnage began just after 10pm when police heading from Jindabyne to Thredbo attempted to stop and inspect two vehicles that were stopped on a steep decline on Alpine Way.
It is believed the vehicles had stopped after an initial crash.
The police car and two other vehicles, which were travelling about 30km/h, then tried to brake, slid and caused several collisions.
The pileup didn’t end there with another eight vehicles which were driving down the road near Bullocks Dr at Crackenback crashing into the waiting cars. Five more vehicles avoided the collision but all became stuck in snow piled up on the side of the road.
No injuries or major damage were reported but the road remained closed until cleared by RMS about 1.30am.
Drivers heading in and out of Sydney had a start-stop journey this morning as snow and ice forced the closure of the Great Western Hwy between Wentworth Falls and Mount Victoria.
Thick snow blanketed the Blue Mountains and central tablelands with the Bureau of Meteorology receiving a report of 8cm of snow at Katoomba and a 10cm fall at Oberon.
“We’re looking at further snow showers in the central tablelands tomorrow and parts of the northern tablelands including Barrington Tops later today,” BOM forecaster Gabrielle Woodhouse said.
The Mitchell Hwy between Orange and Bathurst and roads in and out of Oberon were also snow and ice-affected.
AFL fans braved plunging temperatures and blizzard-like conditions last night in Canberra as GWS and Hawthorn became the first clubs in the sport’s history to play a match in the snow.
Severe weather forecaster Dennis Luke predicts NRL fans heading to GIO Stadium tomorrow will have it worse.
“Strong winds are likely to blow from the mountains down into Canberra during the game, carrying a flurry of around 1-5cm of snow,” he said.
Mr Luke also forecasts a fall of 5-10cm in Orange, Lithgow and Burriga in the next 24 hours while Armidale, Goyra, Walcha and Nundle will also receive a dusting.
“Most of the mountainous areas in NSW, the Blue Mountains and Canberra, will be most affected for the next few days,” he said.
The cold front which swept north from Victoria overnight is predicted to linger until Tuesday, bringing dangerous surf between 10-13 feet from the Tasman Sea which will “intensify later today” to 14-15 feet along the coast.
And while we’re not likely to see any rain, the wind is expected to continue battering Sydney overnight and well into Sunday.
Winds topped 113km/h on the South Coast’s Montague Island on Friday while triple-digit gust speeds were also recorded at Kiama and Bellambi. Should the strong winds pick up again, more delays and cancellations are likely at Sydney Airport, where more than 180 domestic flights were cancelled on Friday.
The damaging winds also ripped the roof off the Presbyterian Aged Care facility at Stockton, in Newcastle, on Friday morning forcing the evacuation of about 30 people.
Authorities have urged people to remain vigilant as conditions will remain poor on the roads.
The SES have received more than 900 requests for help since midnight Thursday, including 370 in the Sydney region.
Almost 200 new jobs have come in since midnight Saturday, with most relating to fallen trees and branches, with some reporting roof damage.
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