Orange is bracing for its coldest morning in almost a year.
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The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting the mercury to dip as low as minus 3 degrees on Friday morning.
If it hits that below freezing mark, it'll be our chilliest start to a day since July last year.
The middle of last winter was particularly cold, and Orange endured a number of freezing mornings throughout July, including a minus 6.3 degree start on the 15th.
Since then, though, we've not battled to get out of bed on too many other mornings.
The very cool start to Friday signals the beginning of a cold snap for Orange, with single-digit maximum temperatures on the radar.
While Friday is expected to reach a top of 10 degrees, Saturday and Sunday will reach a maximum of 9 degrees each.
The early start to winter follows predictions Australia could be in for a slow snow season.
Weatherzone.com is forecasting Australia to see a lacklustre snow season in 2023 if an anticipated unfavourable combination of Pacific and Indian Ocean climate drivers comes to fruition.
The Australian snow season is notoriously fickle. Some years can see plenty of snow coming from multiple large snow-bearing systems (e.g. 1981, 1990, 2000), while other years barely have enough snow to cover the ground at some ski resorts, like in 2006.
Orange has already recorded some snowfall in 2023, with Mount Canobolas hit at the start of May and parts of the CBD (850m) seeing some sleet.
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