At 7.30am, Rob Balint etched his name in the approximately two centimetre fall as a few brave campers and visitors headed to the mount to see the frosty white.

As the mercury lingered in the bottom of the vial, the chilly morning gave way to a blustery day. But the conditions weren't enough to deter the visitors, who rugged up and stuck out the elements for a day in the snow.

Windy conditions were expected to give way to a mostly sunny, but cold Monday with maximums of four degrees.

The frosty mornings were expected to continue through most of the week, with maximums well within the single digits for the coming seven days, but the mostly dry conditions were unlikely to produce heavy snowfall. Winds were expected to ease through the week giving way to the chance of a light shower in the coming fortnight.

Visitors to the Barrington Tops were urged to come prepared for unexpected and potentially dangerous conditions. Hunter Valley police issued a warning late last week urging visitors to "weigh up the risks" of being out in difficult conditions.

"With unpredictable conditions particularly with the winds, roads and trails may become blocked without notice," police said in a statement.

Overnight temperatures were expected to fall to as low as two degrees on Sunday, climbing to around nine degrees through the day.

Meanwhile, a windy weekend and early scattered shower in Newcastle on Saturday morning followed by a cool and partly cloudy Sunday was forecast to be followed by large and powerful surf conditions on Monday afternoon and evening.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued gale warnings for parts of the Hunter, Illawarra and Sydney coasts on Sunday and warned the ensuing big surf could make conditions dangerous for rock fishing, swimming and surfing.

Residents could expect a cool week with maximums of 18 degrees being the highest the temperature gauges were tipped to rise before a slightly warmer change into the low 20s toward the weekend.

Partly cloudy to mostly sunny conditions were were expected for most of the coming week, with the chance of a shower on Wednesday.

The windy weekend was the result of a complex low pressure system near Tasmania, directing a series of cold fronts and troughs across southeast Australia, forecasters said.

Parts of the Upper Hunter and Northern Tablelands remained on alert for potentially damaging winds over the weekend, with warnings for gusts in excess of 90 kilometres per hour during the afternoon and evening.

The conditions were expected to ease through Sunday and Monday as the low moved away to the east and was replaced by a high pressure system.

"The high looks set to become the dominant feature over the state during the coming week," Bureau of Meteorology forecasters said.