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| Down Under |
| Antartic snow blanket covers S.E Australia |
| 2005-08-10 |
| TWO people died when their car overturned on an ice-covered road yesterday as a blast of freezing air pushed up from Antarctica, producing snow that dusted Parliament House, teased Hobart and blanketed large tracts of Victoria in what might be the lowest-lying snowfalls recorded. The weather bureau called it a "cold outbreak" - an unusual event where a mass of air travels at speed behind a cold front, too quickly for the sun and warmer sea temperatures to heat it. "There's only one way this can happen and that's one of these cold outbreaks from the deep south," senior forecaster Stuart Williams said. "I would have to say it is the most widespread snowfall I have seen in my 21 years at the bureau, and there's a good possibility that it is the first time it has snowed in many of these localities." Two people died near Beechworth, in northeastern Victoria, when their car skidded and flipped on to its roof. "There was a lot of snow and ice on the road," an ambulance spokeswoman said. Elsewhere in Victoria, the Mornington Peninsula, Ballarat, Gippsland, the La Trobe Valley and suburban Melbourne received falls that forced the closure of several roads and schools. In the ACT, the Brindabella Ranges received up to 30cm of snow, and the central and southern tablelands of NSW also received falls. But snow forecast for Melbourne's CBD failed to materialise, and the temperature climbed to 10.4C in the city. It had been predicted that yesterday would be the coldest day of winter. The temperature was well above Melbourne's coldest recorded day, in 1872, when the thermometer dipped to 6.7C. The last time it snowed in Melbourne's suburbs was in June 1986, while the last major Melbourne snowfall was in 1951. At Mirboo North primary school in West Gippsland, about 120 students who travelled to school by bus faced the prospect of spending the night at school as parents tried to make their way along snow-blanketed roads to collect their children. But the school's vice-principal Garry Adams said by late yesterday afternoon, all the children had either returned home or made arrangements to be picked up by friends or relatives. It was the first time most of the Mirboo North schoolchildren had seen snow. "They were so excited when they first got to school," Mr Adams said. "All the faces were at the window, and looking at it with astonishment in their eyes." Canberra received snowshowers, but the snow failed to settle on the ground. Snow fell at sea level in Hobart, and snow and ice forced the closure of at least two roads in Tasmania. Police said a school bus slid off the road near Strahan, in the northwest, but no injuries were reported. Temperatures are expected to be cold again today in Victoria, but a repeat of yesterday's snowfalls is not forecast. |
| Posted by:Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World |
| #7 Just curious. I've never seen any references to ice age glacial activity down under. I would guess not a whole lot, but really have no idea. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-08-10 23:34 |
| #6 Actually darrell, after yesterday's report of multiple marsupials being beheaded in Aussie land, we're wondering if the jihadis are already practicing down there. |
| Posted by: BA 2005-08-10 21:09 |
| #5 Can I get a climate study grant for that? |
| Posted by: Darrell 2005-08-10 20:57 |
| #4 If Al Gore remains in the area and this continues, sea levels will go down and Indonesian Muslim fanatics will attempt to attack Australia via the resulting land bridge. Luckily, the northward stampede of kangaroos will probably hold them back long enough for Al to leave the country. With a little more luck, warming will then eliminate the land bridge, drowning the fanatics in the process. Kangaroos that make it to Indonesia will be okay -- they're not halal anyway. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2005-08-10 20:56 |
| #3 this normally only occurs when AlGore is in town to do a pro-Kyoto speech |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-08-10 20:39 |
| #2 Global warming. Backwards downunder. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-08-10 20:23 |
| #1 Except for the people injured or killed - cool. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-08-10 20:10 |