Temperatures have plunged across southeastern Australia during the last 24 hours, allowing snow to fall in central NSW and hail to blanket parts of Victoria.

A large pool of cold air in the wake of a front is covering South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, NSW the ACT and southern Queensland today. This air mass is generating a mix of rain, thunderstorms, snow and hail, while blustery winds are exacerbating the wintry feel.

Parts of South Australia received their heaviest rain in six to eight months during the 24 hours to 9am on Friday, including Cleve (9mm), Kadina (9mm), Wudinna (12mm) and Kyancutta (13mm). Adelaide's 14mm at Kent Town was its best rain since May.

Widespread rain also fell across Victoria between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. The highest totals occurred in the state's northeast, where Falls Creek's Rocky Valley collected 28mm up to 9am and Cheshunt received 27mm.

Not all of the precipitation in Victoria during the last 24 hours fell as rain though. Parts of the Macedon Ranges were covered by a thick coating of small hail on Thursday night, while temperatures were low enough for snow on some of the state's eastern ranges.

As the cold air spread further north on Friday morning, snow was seen falling at a few locations on the Central Tablelands in NSW, including Oberon and Blackheath. Nearby, the mercury had plunged to just 2-3 degrees at Orange Airport and Mount Boyce between 10am and midday.

While snow flurries have occurred outside the alps during the last 24 hours, the heaviest falls were seen in and near Australia's ski resorts.

The weather station at Perisher Valley in NSW registered 19mm of precipitation between 11pm on Thursday and 9am Friday. As the temperature was near to below zero degrees during this time, this equates to around 20cm of snow accumulation.

The cold air will linger over southeastern Australia this weekend as clearer skies and lighter winds develop underneath a high pressure system. This will cause overnight temperatures to plummet, leading to widespread morning frost across the eastern half of Australia on Saturday and Sunday.