A COLD snap has brought a light dusting of snow to Barrington Tops, with more likely this week.
Temperatures dropped to a chilly -5 degrees on Sunday night at Barrington Tops National Park, where Adrian Norris, his partner Bella and her son Archie were camped to see the snow.
Mr Norris said when he saw the conditions pointed to snow, he packed the car ready to give his new rooftop tent a try.
"There were about four or five others camped out last night there as well, [it was] quieter than I thought it would be considering school holidays, but yes, definitely suggest wearing some thermals," he said.
"We had a 12V electric blanket from Kings and it was a godsend.
"[It was] my partner Bella and her son Archie's first time seeing snow at all, so it was a special time watching it fall last night and waking up to everything covered in white."
Mr Norris said snow started falling lightly about 10pm on Sunday, and continued to fall on and off throughout the night.
At this stage, Tuesday and Wednesday look to be the most promising days for snowfall at Barrington Tops, with slightly increased moisture levels expected to bring sporadic snow flurries above 900 metres.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Gabrielle Woodhouse said she expected a few little flurries on Monday with snow becoming more likely on Tuesday due to cooler air.
"You need to have enough moisture in the atmosphere but it also needs to be cold enough to be able to get snow," she said.
"What we find, particularly looking around Barrington Tops, is that the systems that bring us that cold air and the showers tend to have the showers fall out on the ranges further west, so more around the western slopes along the Great Dividing Range.
"It's often quite hard to get that moisture to come across towards the Barrington Tops to be able to have it fall out as snow."
Ms Woodhouse said snow looked more likely further south across parts of the Central Tablelands and the Northern Tablelands towards Guyra.
"But it's not out of the question to see it fall at Barrington Tops," she said.
Drivers are urged to use caution as snow can make roads slippery.
Closer to home, Novocastrians will need to bust out the winter woollies this week as temperatures drop considerably.
Tuesday is expected to be the coldest day across the Hunter and Newcastle, with maximum temperatures a few degrees below average.
Temperatures are forecast around 12 to 13 degrees, coupled with wind adding an extra chill factor.
Wind is expected to drop somewhat in the second half of the week, which will bring marginally warmer weather to Newcastle.
