Queensland, Australia: Biggest snowstorm in 31 years

Queensland, Australia – Biggest snowstorm in 31 years (Ice Age Now, July 17, 2015):

Record-breaking cold and possibly record-breaking snow.

Major cities in the land Down Under are used to average winter temperatures of around 10 degrees Celsius (50 F). Aussies often run around in flip flops at this time of year. But on Friday, temperatures dropped to zero and sub-zero degrees across multiple states.

A record breaking low of minus 6.9 degrees was recorded overnight in Mount Hotham and Falls Creek, Victoria.

And along with the cold came the snow.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said up to eight centimeters (3¼ inches) of snow has been recorded by locals around Eukey and Stanthorpe on the Granite Belt.

It is the thickest blanket of snow to have fallen in Queensland since 1984, according to bureau senior forecaster Sam Campbell.

Does this set a new record?

“It’s a difficult thing for us to keep track of how much snow actually falls in some of these places,” said Campbell. “Often they’re quite isolated and we don’t have reliable observations.”

“But what we can say is we had a record of five centimetres falling in 2007 and nothing significant in our records between then and 1984, so it’s entirely possible that these are the best falls seen in Queensland in over 30 years.”

Locals and tourists were determined not to miss the rare event.

Families braved the freezing cold to make snowmen at 2:00am.

Candice Sires travelled from Dalby to get a glimpse.

“We haven’t slept yet and wow,” she said.

Stanthorpe resident Margaret Osborne said she has not seen anything like it since the “great snow fall” of 1984.

Karan Orr, a supervisor at the Granite Belt Wine and Tourism Centre, said people had flocked to the region to see the snow.

“I could see cars parked everywhere on the side of the road when I drove to work this morning and people were out building snowmen and throwing snowballs at each other, it was nice,” she said.

Meanwhile, drivers became stranded after authorities closed the Hume Motorway (the main highway between Sydney and Melbourne), the Great Western Highway between Leura and Katoomba, and the New England Highway near Glen Innes.

http://mashable.com/2015/07/16/snow-queensland-australia/

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-17/thick-snow-blankets-southern-queensland/6626630

http://m.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queensland-snow-stanthorpe-gets-highest-falls-in-a-decade-20150716-gie9sn.html

See lots and lots of photos:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3164576/Let-SNOW-Australia-wakes-wintery-blanket-white-stuff-vaguely-cold-Sunshine-State-gets-dusting.html

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/sydney-weather-snow-closes-hume-motorway-as-storms-move-towards-city-20150717-gie9ig

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/brisbane-news-weather-traffic-and-transport-in-your-courier-mail-bff-blog/story-fnqcjzme-1227443888952

Thanks to Argiris Diamantis, Laurel, Oz Steamer, Fraser Power, Mark R., Lyn Roberts, Kingbum, Jimmy Walter and George Martinez for these links

Note: The headline in The Brisbane Times called it “the highest falls in a decade,” even though the article itself said it was the biggest snowfall since 1984.
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“Bear in mind  we only usually get snow in very small areas so no one has chains or experience driving in it,” says Laurel.

“They haven’t yet blamed Global Warming, but I’m sure they will,” says Oz Steamer. “The media coverage was actually quite extensive, but they completely failed to mention that this contradicts the Global Warmists main message that Snow & Ice “will be a thing of the past” especially in Australian ski fields (and yes, we do have some).”

“This hardly ever happens at elevations as low as 700 meters,” says Kingbum.

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