It might be nearing the end of winter, but it's not time to pack away the thermals just yet.
After a low pressure system brought strong winds and cool weather to the region earlier this week, another, stronger front was set to cross NSW on Friday and Saturday, bringing a return of vigorous westerly winds.
The Bureau of Meteorology warned that damaging winds, averaging 60 to 70 km/h with peak gusts in excess of 90 km/h were likely to develop over the higher parts of the Illawarra, Southern and Central Tablelands on Saturday morning, before extending to the higher grounds of the Hunter later in the day and into Sunday.
"There is an outside chance of the damaging wind gusts affecting the Lower Hunter and Newcastle Metropolitan area too," the Bureau said in its warning.
A small amount of snow is also possible at Barrington Tops, while the front is expected to drop daytime temperatures into the mid-teens across most of the Hunter region on Saturday.
While the temperatures won't be the lowest of 2020, the Bureau said Saturday could be the state's coldest day of the year due to the windchill factor.
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"Wind chill will make conditions feel colder and hypothermia is a risk if people aren't prepared for the conditions," a Bureau statement said.
The Bureau said in the cooler months, wind can make conditions feel a lot colder than the ambient temperature.
This is due to the layer of warmer air that sits around the body and insulates from cool surrounding air being stripped away, causing one to feel the cold more. It's what's known as the "feels like" temperature.
For example, the forecast for Newcastle on Saturday is a top of 17C, but at 1pm Saturday, the predicted "feels like" temperature is forecast to be 6-9C.
The impending winds have put Hunter State Emergency Service crews on standby for the weekend after a steady stream of wind-related jobs during the week.
SES Northern Zone Hunter office spokesperson Mandy Bramble said in the past seven days, Hunter units had responded to 40 calls for assistance.
She said a lot had been for fallen branches due to tree stress caused by the high rainfall after a prolonged dry spell.
