THE MASSIVE dump of snow across large parts of the state overnight is causing traffic chaos with major arterial roads closed and a number of schools in the Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands closed.<\/p>\n
More than 10cm of snow fell in Katoomba with falls experienced as far north as Armidale and south to Goulburn.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not often kids in NSW get a snow day, but more than 40 schools in the mountains and highlands won\u2019t open today because of the icy conditions.<\/p>\n
The Great Western Highway, Mitchell Highway and New England Highway have all been closed due to snow or ice on the road and police and emergency services are urging drivers to avoid non-essential travel until this cold snap thaws.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are urging all road users to drive to the road conditions and exercise caution. In wet and cold conditions, roads will slippery and vehicles may take longer to stop,\u201d Assistant Commissioner John Hartley said.<\/p>\n
The treacherous conditions have been hampering paramedics who have been trying to respond to more than 20 crashes caused by the storms and snow.<\/p>\n
\u201cSnow, ice, strong winds and heavy rain are making for treacherous conditions for NSW Ambulance paramedics to respond to patients,\u201d Chief Superintendent Simon Locke said.<\/p>\n
The major arterial road between Sydney and Melbourne, the Hume Highway, was closed near Bowral but one lane in each direction has since been opened but the RMS is warning of big delays in the area.<\/p>\n
Residents in the Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands are also experiencing power outages with Endeavour Energy reporting 8500 customers are affected.<\/p>\n
The State Emergency Service set up a number of refuges in the Blue Mountains to provide shelter and food to stranded motorists.<\/p>\n
The following road and school closures will be updated as more information becomes available:<\/p>\n
SCHOOL CLOSURES
\nBald Blair Public School<\/p>\n
Ben Lomond Public School<\/p>\n
Bigga Public School<\/p>\n
Binda Public School<\/p>\n
Binya Public School<\/p>\n
Black Springs Public School<\/p>\n
Blackheath Public School<\/p>\n
Blayney High School<\/p>\n
Blayney Public School<\/p>\n
Burraga Public School<\/p>\n
Capertee Public School<\/p>\n
Carcoar Public School<\/p>\n
Crookwell High School<\/p>\n
Crookwell Public School<\/p>\n
Cullen Bullen Public School<\/p>\n
Euchareena Public School<\/p>\n
Hampton Public School<\/p>\n
Katoomba High School<\/p>\n
Katoomba North Public School<\/p>\n
Katoomba Public School<\/p>\n
Laggan Public School<\/p>\n
Leura Public School<\/p>\n
Lithgow Public School<\/p>\n
Lyndhurst Public School<\/p>\n
Mandurama Public School<\/p>\n
Meadow Flat Public School<\/p>\n
Megalong Public School<\/p>\n
Nashdale Public School<\/p>\n
Neville Public School<\/p>\n
Niangala Public School<\/p>\n
Oberon High School<\/p>\n
Oberon Public School<\/p>\n
O\u2019Connell Public School<\/p>\n
Portland Central School<\/p>\n
Rockley Public School<\/p>\n
Taralga Public School<\/p>\n
Turnkey Creek Public School<\/p>\n
Wallerawang Public School<\/p>\n
Wattle Flat Public School<\/p>\n
Wyangala Dam Public School<\/p>\n
Wytaliba Public School
\nThe following schools in the Southern Highlands will have limited staff and students have been advised to stay at home:
\nSt Paul\u2019s Moss Vale<\/p>\n
St Thomas Aquinus, Bowral<\/p>\n
St Michaels, Mittagong<\/p>\n
ROAD CLOSURES<\/p>\n
Oxley Highway – Bendemeer to Walcha<\/p>\n
Great Western Highway – Mt Victoria to Lawson<\/p>\n
Great Western Highway – Bathurst to Marrangaroo (West of Lithgow)<\/p>\n
Bells Line of Road – Bell to Mt Irvine<\/p>\n
Duckmaloi Road – Oberon (between Oberon and Jenolan Caves Rd)<\/p>\n
O\u2019Connell Rd – Oberon<\/p>\n
Mid Western Highway – Cowra to Blayney<\/p>\n
Mitchell Highway – Orange to Bathurst<\/p>\n
Hume Motorway – Berrima (at Berrima Turnoff)<\/p>\n
New England Highway – between Glen Innes and Armidale<\/p>\n
Crookwell \u2013 Goulburn to Crookwell Rd<\/p>\n
Perisher to Charlotte Pass Lookout<\/p>\n
Khancoban to Cabramurra<\/p>\n
Smiggin Holes to Guthega Link Rd<\/p>\n
TRAFFIC AFFECTED<\/p>\n
Kosciuszko National Park (all directions)<\/p>\n
Kosciuszko Rd<\/p>\n
Alpine Way<\/p>\n
Snowy Mountains Hwy<\/p>\n
Guthega Rd<\/p>\n
Elliot Way<\/p>\n
Perisher to Charlotte Pass Lookout (road closed at Perisher)<\/p>\n
Khancoban to Cabramurra \u2013 road closed<\/p>\n
Smiggin Holes to Guthega Link Rd \u2013 road closed<\/p>\n
POWER OUTAGES<\/p>\n
Blue Mountains: 1100 customers without supply<\/p>\n
Southern Highlands: 1100 customers affected<\/p>\n
FLOODING ALERTS<\/p>\n
Coonamble<\/p>\n
Cobar<\/p>\n
Far Western Region \u2013 Broken Hill<\/p>\n
Central Darling<\/p>\n
Carrathool<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE MASSIVE dump of snow across large parts of the state overnight is causing traffic chaos with major arterial roads closed and a number of schools in the Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands closed. More than 10cm of snow fell in Katoomba with falls experienced as far north as Armidale and south to Goulburn. It\u2019s … Continue reading “Road closures, school closures, flooding alerts”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hume"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}