"On the downside I have to go out and feed the cattle," said Mr Philp, who moved with his wife Tina from Manly to a property just outside Black Springs, 20 kilometres south of Oberon, 10 years ago. "That's a bit of an inconvenience."

They must also face the grim possibility of losing calves to the sudden cold.

But there is an upside too. The snow also brings a flurry of bookings for the Philps' farm-stay cottage on their property, which is about 1250 metres above sea level.

"Winters are good for us. When it gets cold people in Sydney and on the coast who never see the stuff ring up when they see the forecast and ask us: 'Will there be snow?'

"We can't guarantee it all the time but there's a fair chance. We usually get six or seven heavy dumps a year."

Two of their regular "snowbirds" were expected to arrive last night from near Newcastle after seeing the forecasts.

"They even bring their own sledges. Like a couple of kids."

Not so long ago a heavy dump of snow could mean the Philps were blocked in for several days. Now the council moves so quickly to clear the main road into Oberon that they are usually cut off for no more than a few hours.

The road can still be dangerous, though.

"A few years ago," said Mrs Philp, "we were going into Oberon on a snow-covered road and skidded on black ice. You couldn't see it beneath the snow."

Their four-wheel-drive came to a rest just centimetres from a precipice.

Though Sydney can expect more cold days and nights and even more in July, traditionally the coldest month, it should not expect snow. Early records claim that snow fell in Sydney in 1836 but modern weather experts are sceptical, suggesting that it was more likely to have been a soft hail - like that which blanketed Lindfield, Roseville and Killara last year.

A meteorological office spokesman said then that Sydney had experienced a white winter afternoon because it was cold enough to stop the hail melting as it fell and cold enough to preserve it when it hit the ground. "We are almost in the subtropics in Sydney," he said. "Places like the far west, the Blue Mountains, you can get snow. But in the eastern half of Sydney, you would be pushing very hard."