Freezing start to summer as heavy snow blankets Australian Alps
Unseasonal snow marked the first day of summer in parts of the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales on December 1, 2019. On the following day, as much as 30 cm (12 inches) of snow fell in many parts of Victoria, blanketing the alps.
Falls Creek and the Hotham Alpine Resort in Victoria, and the Perisher Ski Resort in New South Wales experienced major snow on Monday.
#Summer #snow at HOTHAM! Temps dipping to -1.8°C already. More #snowfalls tipped this evening and tomorrow! Are we dreaming of a White Christmas yet? #summersnow #mthotham #SnowReport #Australia pic.twitter.com/sSCnbYm8Pp
— Hotham (@_hotham) December 1, 2019
A feezing start to #summer in the south with heavy #snow in the alps overnight. Snow will continue today with a max of just 1 at Perisher. Weather warming up from tomorrow. Latest #alpine forecast: https://t.co/bwilfRUg7C pic.twitter.com/cdaGLGug7C
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) December 1, 2019
Summer snow blankets ski fields in Australia's alpine villages pic.twitter.com/y6wqmbxOY8
— The Independent (@Independent) December 2, 2019
Surprise! It's a Summer Snowfall – @perisherresort, New South Wales, Australia – https://t.co/C7ymwNKZ3Y #snow #skiing #PerisherBlue pic.twitter.com/O32RoMj3TP
— thesnowsite.com (@thesnowsite) December 2, 2019
"We have had over 25 cm (10 inches) of snow overnight, and it is still going, we did think about reopening, but we thought we might leave this one to the locals, to get the last turns in for 2019," said Grace Smith, a resident from Falls Creek.
Temperatures plummeted to -3° C (26.6 °F) overnight from Mount Hotham to Mount Buller. It was freezing overall around the state as a strong cold front passes Australia's southeast area.
In Melbourne, the temperature was 14 °C (57.2 °F), making it the coldest day since October 2019.
21 °C (69.8 °F) was registered in Sydney, just a little colder than average. Adelaide was also experiencing a colder than usual December.
"Higher elevations of Tasmania could experience flurries," reports said. "Mt Wellington could see snowfall in summer this week with lows of -4 °C (24.8 °F).
As the morning of the first day of summer progresses the temperature at Mt Hotham Australia has dropped to minus 2 degrees Celsius and the snow has started to fall.
Apocalyptic catastrophic global heating is unstoppable. #ClimateEmergency pic.twitter.com/RZ4WgWM82y
— Anthony Bergelin (@Bergeonline) December 1, 2019
mel"k so one for the impossible file. looking at 30cm of snow hotham alpine resort in australia's second day of summer. weird polar vortex ~ " pic.twitter.com/wtGC1HTw5m
— robert alexander (@r0to00) December 2, 2019
Meanwhile, in Perth, a contrasting warm temperature of 35 °C (95 °F) was registered in the same period.
Featured image credit: @_hotham/Twitter
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