On Monday Canberra enjoyed a balmy 25C day. On Tuesday it snowed.
Surprised residents of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory woke up on Tuesday morning to find up to 15 centimetres of snow had fallen in some regions, directly after one of the warmest days yet of spring.
Spring has sprung here at Kambri and throughout Canberra as the weather starts to warm up. 📷 @rustyblazeburlesque pic.twitter.com/oQEkzs6B8q
— Kambri at ANU (@Kambri_ANU) September 15, 2019
Golden wattles in full bloom as it’s spring in Canberra. 🌷 pic.twitter.com/SXPiYIGj3N
— Tulip Penney (@TulipPenney) September 15, 2019
The snow blanketed places such as Goulburn and Tarago in NSW, the tops of Mount Ainslie and Mount Majura in Canberra, and even fell directly outside Parliament House.
Light snow outside the House of Reps🥶 in Canberra pic.twitter.com/QH0sdJkdOm
— Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) September 16, 2019
Spring in #Goulburn! This is the beautiful sight that greeted staff when they arrived at the city’s majestic courthouse this morning. #snow pic.twitter.com/n87NfWSD1w
— Justice NSW (@NSWJustice) September 16, 2019
Snow closed parts of the Hume Highway on Tuesday morning and the extreme temperature variation left many Canberrans puzzled.
Today’s Aussie snow pic is from the suburbs of Canberra. It’s common of course to see snow on the Brindabellas, west of the city which rise to 1800m. But these low hills are barely 800m and snowline is about 700m https://t.co/UoLeNxqO0r
— Anthony Sharwood ❄️🍉 (@antsharwood) September 16, 2019
❄️ Snow delays on the road to Sydney from Canberra this morning! #roadtrip #snow #Canberra #Goulburn #commuterslife pic.twitter.com/TOooCrYB4m
— Verity Blackman (@VerityBlackman) September 16, 2019
Snow in Spring. #Canberra #snow #spring #canberrykids pic.twitter.com/Nf6s87lhbI
— s0cc0 (@s0cc0) September 16, 2019
Abrar Shabren, a forecaster for the Bureau of Meteorology, said the snowfall had been caused by a cold front that moved in from the west overnight.
“Cold fronts do tend to at this time in the year produce a level of snow,” he said. The sudden snow was “not particularly unusual at this time of year when we are transitioning into spring”.
“It’s not peculiar to have these conditions associated with a cold front and associated trough,” he said.
#Snow has started to fall along the Great Western Highway at #MountBoyce. Stay safe on the roads and drive to the conditions.
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) September 16, 2019
The front will then move into NSW where it will create rain along the coastal fringe, and the bureau has issued a flood warning for the Myall, Paterson and Williams rivers and Tuggerah Lake.
Shabren said Canberra could see more snow above 800m for the rest of the day but it was unlikely for Wednesday.
The forecast for Wednesday is a partly cloudy day with a chance of one of two showers.
