Weather wreaks havoc as snow falls near Sydney
July 18, 2004 - 11:39AM

Wild weather Saturday night has ripped off roofs and uprooted trees in Sydney, while ice and snow has forced road closures across NSW.

Snow has blanketed much of the south-eastern part of the state with heavy falls in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, and the Southern Highlands.

Police urged motorists to be extremely careful as they returned from the state's snowfields Sunday, warning that slippery roads were a major hazard.

While roads were being salted and sanded to minimise the impact of the ice, the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) recommended people postponed car travel until conditions improved.

The worst-affected areas for snow and ice are west of Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, where snow is falling, and south of Mittagong on the Hume Highway.

Ice is forcing the periodic closure of the Great Western Highway between Medlow Bath and Blackheath, while Bells Line of Road is closed.

The Snowy Mountains Highway is closed at Cooma and the Monaro Highway is closed between Queanbeyan and Cooma.

"Of concern [is] a large number of people seem to be heading from Sydney up towards the Blue Mountains, presumably to look at the snow," RTA spokesman Ken Boys said.

"We are appealing to people to stay out of the area if they can."

Fallen trees and branches forced the closure of Botany Bay National Park South in south-east Sydney, while debris and fallen wires blocked other roads across the city.

Electricity wires were down in Kensington, Lilyfield and Seaforth Sunday morning.

Debris, trees and branches obstructed roads in Oxford Falls and Chatswood and power failures across the Illawarra region caused traffic light blackouts Sunday morning.

"I can't imagine that many people will be going for a picnic," a spokeswoman for the National Parks and Wildlife Service said.

Despite the havoc caused overnight and Sunday morning temperatures were only two degrees celsius below average, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

A maximum of 15 degrees is expected in Sydney Sunday and a minimum of 5.9 degrees.

The Bureau of Meteorology expected snowfall to ease in the Blue Mountains later Sunday.

"The jobs are still rolling in," State Emergency Service (SES) central Sydney local controller Peter Murray said.

AAP

-justin-
[/b]