Blizzards and damaging winds are on the way with the Bureau of Meteorology issuing a severe weather warning for southern NSW and the ACT.
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A cold front sweeping across the region brought strong westerly winds from late Thursday evening forecast and will continue into Friday and throughout Saturday.
Wind gusts of up to 91km/h were recorded at Perisher while they were even stronger at Thredbo, reaching 115km/h.
Gusts of more than 90km/h could extend to parts of the Snowy Mountains, ACT and surrounding areas on Friday morning.
Meteorologist at the bureau Helen Kirkup said a large cold front, mixed with strong winds, meant the cold conditions would continue in Canberra.
Friday's maximum is forecast to be just 7 degrees, but the wind chill has made the temperature at times feel like minus 3.
"It's not going to get too much warmer on Friday," Ms Kirkup said.
"If there's a break in the clouds and the sun comes out in the middle of the day the temperature might creep up, but it's likely to stay very cold."
Perisher recorded the first snowfall of the year on Wednesday night with an estimated 40 centimetres to fall at the ski resort over the weekend.
While Canberra suburbs aren't expected to see snow, falls have been predicted for elevated areas to the south of the territory including the Brindabellas.
The city got a first taste of winter this week as the temperature on dropped to 8 on Thursday.
Saturday will see the temperature rise to 10 degrees with the windy conditions set to continue.
The capital is expected to get one of its first frosts for the year on Sunday morning.