Frost will form, snow will fall and the mercury is predicted to plunge well below zero in Canberra's first week of winter.
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And while a few flakes fell over parts of southern Tuggeranong on Monday morning, it was residents in areas south and east of the capital including Queanbeyan, Cooma, Braidwood and Goulburn who awoke to up to five centimetres of snow cover.
The Bureau of Meteorology's Sean Carson said the snow had started falling south of Canberra and moved east, largely bypassing the Brindabellas.
"It's currently falling between Goulburn and Braidwood and moving quickly away from Canberra," he said at 7.30am on Monday.
"There's been a few snowy flakes in Canberra's south but nothing settling in Canberra.
"I can hardly see any snow on the Brindabellas. There hasn't been much activity at all."
But the chilly start provided ski resorts with a last-minute natural dusting before the official start to the ski season this weekend, with 20 centimetres falling above 1500 metres and 5 to 12cm on the lower slopes.
Overnight showers were expected to clear early on Monday before the sun came out and the temperatures dropped, including a low of minus 3.2 at 5.30am and 7am .
Weatherzone.com.au meteorologist Guy Dixon said a "very, very cold air mass" had brought snowfalls to the region.
"That'll clear after sunrise and a high pressure ridge will move in and bring clear, sunny conditions for the rest of the week," he said.
Those clear skies meant temperatures would reach a chilly top of 11 degrees on the first day of winter.
Tuesday morning would start at minus three degrees and hit 12 degrees, while the mercury would plummet to minus four degrees on Wednesday and reach 13 degrees.
On Thursday, the minimum temperature would again be minus four degrees, with a maximum of 12.
The biting cold would also bring a strong chance of morning frosts from Tuesday, Mr Dixon said.
The high pressure ridge would continue to dominate, and bring light winds, clear skies and very little chance of rain later in the week.
Freezing temperatures would bring some good news, with a dusting of flakes forecast before the start of the snow season this coming long weekend.
Mr Dixon expected about 10 millimetres to 15 millimetres of snow would land at NSW ski resorts including Perisher and Thredbo, which had so far only experienced patchy falls.
"This will give a good covering and, hopefully because that cold air mass will hang around, the snow won't melt.
"It's not a bad little pre-season fall."
