Sydney's stretch of mostly sunny and dry days is likely to stretch well into June as robust cold fronts stay well to the city's south.
The coming week's weather outlook for the Harbour City is one of settled conditions with a notable drop in temperatures early next week after the alps cop what's likely to be short-lived dusting of snow.
Daytime maximums are likely to peak at a pleasant 22-23 degrees for the weekend days.
A wintry bite will be felt early next week, though, with temperatures dipping to 8 degrees by Tuesday morning, the Bureau of Meteorology predicts.
Inland suburbs will drop to as low as 3 degrees in the south-west.
"It's going to be a very dry start to June," Jacob Cronje, a senior meteorologist with Weatherzone, said.
"It looks like being a fairly uneventful start to winter - people may be lulled into complacency."
After Sydney's warmest summer on record, autumn temperatures for Sydney have remained well above average through autumn.
Month-date maximums are running more than 2 degrees above the May norm.
"It looks like being a fairly uneventful start to winter - people may be lulled into complacency."
- Jacob Cronje, senior meteorologist with Weatherzone
While autumn got off to a soggy start - Sydney recorded its wettest March in 42 years - the skies have largely cleared, with both April and May turning out to be much drier than usual.
Sydney's autumn rainfall was close to average while inland sites such as Richmond were about 50 per cent wetter than usual, bureau data show.
The outlook for winter, released by the bureau on Thursday, points to another relatively dry season for southern Australia. (See bureau chart below.)
Warmer-than-normal tropical Pacific waters and a cooler-than-average eastern Indian Ocean off Australia's north-west are the main influences nudging the odds in favour of drier conditions, the bureau said.
June is typically the wettest month of the year in Sydney, with 133 millimetres of rain on average.
While the overall season can be dry, it only takes one major event - such as last year's big east coast low - to send rainfall totals soaring, Mr Cronje said.
Winter chill
Those keen for the cold may also be disappointed, with the odds also tilting towards a warmer-than-normal winter for the southern half of the continent. (See bureau chart of maximum temperatures below.)
Overnight temperatures are likely to be closer to the norm for most of the country, although south-eastern Australia - including Sydney - should be relatively mild.
Snow bunnies hoping for action on the June 10-12 long weekend may be cheered by the coming weekend's snowfalls - but the natural snow cover isn't likely to last.
A second front moving through by about Wednesday is likely to bring at least as much rain as snow, Mr Cronje said.
"It's not a good start to the snow season," he said.
Cameras at the main alpine resorts on Thursday were showing largely sunny conditions - and very little sign of the white stuff.
- Weatherzone is owned by Fairfax Media, publisher of this website.
The story, Sydney weather: No end in sight for sunny days though frosty mornings to bite, first appeared on the Sydney Morning Herald.
