The day began with a dense fog that had visibility in some areas including the Lithgow valley reduced to little more than 50 metres.

As the fog lifted a frost developed then cleared to a relatively mild sunny morning.

This changed around midday when a severe weather front rolled across the region bringing noisy late Autumn electrical storms.

The storms brought some welcome light rain but some less than welcome minor power disruptions.

Then came the real spectacle of the day — freak hail ‘blizzards’ that swept over much of the area.

The hail was too small to cause any notable damage but the sheer volume left a thick coating that many casual observers believed was snow.

The waves of hail missed Lithgow city but were experienced over a wide surrounding area including Hampton and the Portland district.

It was a true Winter scene at Delta’s Mt Piper power station where the entire complex appeared to be covered in snow.

Observers in the affected areas said it was the thickest coating of fine hail they had experienced in years.

It could, however, be an indicator of things to come as the Weather Bureau is anticipating another severe south westerly front to move through late in the weekend, with the possibility of ‘real’ snow in the Tablelands by Monday.