Hey ya go !!  I forget where you live - was it Sydney ?  Pop in the car and take a drive up to Springwood or Katoomba - or down to Cooma and you can finally see some snow !!  Every one should have the chance to play in it at least once.
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NSW snowstorms worst in years
July 18, 2004 - 5:49PM

Wild storms have dumped heavy snow over vast areas of Australia's south-east, leaving motorists trapped in ditches as gale force winds tore off roofs, uprooted trees and downed power lines in NSW.

The storms hit NSW's Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands, and Victoria's north-east, turning roads into icy hazards which sent motorists skidding into ditches and snowy embankments.

Authorities were forced to close major roads in both states, while they laid down sand and salt to reduce the danger.

NSW State Emergency Service spokeswoman Laura Goodwin said the snow storms which hit NSW were the worst in three years.

"We seldom have snow to this extent and to this depth," she said.

In Sydney, gale-force winds tore roofs off some properties, with downed power lines and debris forcing the closure of some roads the city.

In Victoria's north-east, the Great Alpine Highway was reopened on Sunday after dozens of drivers were left stranded as winds, carrying snow and gusting up to 70kph, dramatically cut visibility.

"The wind was blowing snow onto the road from south-east and visibility was almost zero," said Keith Boxer who is on the management board of Victoria's Mt Hotham ski resort.

"You always get people stuck in those sort of conditions. We dug out a few people from the road. (Then) you get a bank-up of cars, which exacerbates the problem."

About 15cm of snow fell throughout Victoria's alpine region on Saturday, but Mr Boxer said the wind was the problem.

He said many of the ski lifts were not operating due to the conditions, but most lifts and roads were reopened on Sunday because of calmer weather.

The snow forced authorities to periodically close parts of the Great Western Highway, the Snowy Mountains Highway and the Monaro Highway.

And the lure of a frolic in the snow forced the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) to urge motorists from Sydney not to head to the mountains.

"Of concern (is) a large number of people seem to be heading from Sydney up towards the Blue Mountains, presumably to look at the snow," RTA spokesman Ken Boys said.

An appeal was issued urging people to stay away from affected areas, especially areas west of Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, and south of Mittagong, on the Hume Highway.

Like the situation in Mt Hotham in Victoria, many skiers driving to the Perisher snowfields in NSW had to be towed out of ditches after their vehicles slipped off icy roads.

Neil Thew, at Perisher Blue resort, said: "(The roads) have been fairly chaotic.

"Temperatures were still hovering around minus five degrees Celsius at 11.30am (AEST) today at Perisher."

He said more than 20 cm of snow had fallen on Perisher in the past 24 hours and some ski lifts had been stopped because of poor visibility and high winds.

In south-east Sydney, fallen trees and branches forced the closure of Botany Bay National Park South while debris and fallen wires blocked roads across the city.

Debris also obstructed roads in Oxford Falls and Chatswood, and power failures across the Illawarra region had earlier caused traffic light blackouts.

Despite the havoc, temperatures were only two degrees celsius below average, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

On NSW's south coast, residents of low lying areas were warned to watch for possible flooding as heavy seas pounded the coast.

Sydney Ferries were forced to cancel all services to Manly due to rough seas.

But flights in and out of Sydney Airport encountered no delays today.

The Sydney CBD also was disrupted after a building in the city's main street, George Street, sustained wind damage, with a pane of glass threatening to fall from a level 23 window.

Police closed the road and evacuated the area due to the danger also presented by dislodged cables.

20 cm is about 8 inches... pretty respectable amount of snow in one storm. Sounds like the wind was pretty nasty too. It's too easy to forget that it's winter down under right now, while I'm sweating and wishing for fall. >grin<

I think you mean Meli (with no H,) because I, MooRocca, (L before H) know it snows in Australia.  At any rate, that sounds like some storm!  Be safe!! 

I think you mean Meli (with no H,) because I, MooRocca, (L before H) know it snows in Australia.  At any rate, that sounds like some storm!  Be safe!! 


OOPS - sorry MooRocca !!  Hmmm I cant change the title of the post can I ?

Yeah the footage I saw on last nights news - boats being tossed in the seas, trees down etc etc showed it was a pretty nasty storm all round.

Its all on the southern east coast so well and truly away from me in the west where its sunny and fine and high 60s F.  My brother is in Sydney so he experienced the big storms - he is at the base of the Blue Mountains so I dont think he would have got the snow fall that was at the top - but it would have been pretty icey.  My dads relatives live in the Snowy Mountains and their town is cut off at the moment - only one road in and out and its snowed in !  Dad himself is about 8 hours north of Sydney and got the rain but not the cold.

Meanwhile - slightly further east in Northern New Zealand - they recieved 250mm of rain in a few hours - bout 11 inches - major flooding happening.

So that whole area over there is "under the weather".

This is why I love Perth winters - fine and sunny and "fresh".  Rain forcast from tomorrow for a few days - then it will go back to sunny.

But I would love to be to holidays in the Snowy Mountains right now :)

OOh just found a link to the news photos from the storm - a very cool big wave one in there
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/2004/07/19/1090089073857.html

This one is outside Cooma - aout 2 hours north of the town my relatives are snowed in at.

And Chucky  if you are still sweltering - and missing the sight of live snow falling - I found you some snow cams from our ski fields - updated every few minutes !!!!

http://www.ski.com.au/snowcams/

I can vouch for the snow !  My parents got a light dusting of the stuff on Sunday and I'm betting Powerslave got a tad more. ;) :)

As for the strong winds, I worked at Bondi (right on the coast) on Monday, and we were literally being blown off our feet !  Not to mention having to dodge all manner of debris flying around the place ! :o

OOPS - sorry MooRocca !!  Hmmm I cant change the title of the post can I ?




BMG if you click on 'modify' on the first post you can change the title.

BMG if you click on 'modify' on the first post you can change the title.

Thanks Karen - I always thought you could only change the post contents - I feel better now !!


I can vouch for the snow !  My parents got a light dusting of the stuff on Sunday and I'm betting Powerslave got a tad more. ;) :)

As for the strong winds, I worked at Bondi (right on the coast) on Monday, and we were literally being blown off our feet !  Not to mention having to dodge all manner of debris flying around the place ! :o


Hehehe I was thinking it might be chilly up Powerslaves way !!

We had the galeforce winds today - my 8 minute walk to work took about 5 minutes today !!  Least they were blowing in the right direction.  And I got to work with about 2 minutes to spare before a huge stormfront hit.  Quite a bit of storm damage around Perth.

Got an email from my dads rellies in the Snowy Mountains - their town is still cut off but the kids love it - their school is a whole town away and they cant get there !!  So school holidays have been extended !

Hey ya go !!  I forget where you live - was it Sydney ?  Pop in the car and take a drive up to Springwood or Katoomba - or down to Cooma and you can finally see some snow !!  Every one should have the chance to play in it at least once.

BMG, ya beat me to it  ;D

I was thinking of Meli JUST the other day regarding this subject  ;D ;D ;D

Well personally I'm not missing the snow, I'm enjoying the nice warm, sunny, beautifal weather we're having here in Canada.  ;D

Hehehe I was thinking it might be chilly up Powerslaves way !!



You bet it is! I was at work during the snow and my wife called me at 4am. She had not seen snow before and got pretty excited when she got up to let the cat out and there was snow all over the place. :) While I was driving home later, a car went past with a snowman on the hood.  ;D

Oh yeah, and Springwood is a bit far down the mountain to get snow. The limit of the snow line in the Blue Mountains is about 600 metres. Springwood is quite a ways below that.

BMG, ya beat me to it  ;D

I was thinking of Meli JUST the other day regarding this subject  ;D ;D ;D


You know me Fuss - always gotta prove a point !!!!  And fast !!




While I was driving home later, a car went past with a snowman on the hood.  ;D

Oh yeah, and Springwood is a bit far down the mountain to get snow. The limit of the snow line in the Blue Mountains is about 600 metres. Springwood is quite a ways below that.


Awwwww we use to put snowmen on the car in Tassie - glad people still do it !!
Dad lived in Springwood from 88 to 99 and he got snow quite a few times in those years.  He preferred it to the fires ! (ick bad joke).

My aunt in the snowy mtns is emailing me some piccies - she said they are getting some of the heaviest falls in 3-5 years.  Cant wait to see the pics.

I guess it does snow in Springwood now and then, but it's actually pretty rare there. The snow was quite heavy, and if the temperature's anything to go by lately, it won't be the last we see of it this winter either. :)

I guess it does snow in Springwood now and then, but it's actually pretty rare there.

I would say in the township itself its pretty rare - dads mother in law never had snow fall in her yard in decades - she lived right in town.  Dad lived way out of the township on a road that led to a lookout - cant find my older address book with the name of the road - hmmm started with R or H.  He sent me pics every few years of snow on his balcony.

Here are some pics my aunty sent me of her home and backyard and her main street of her little Snowy Mountains village, all taken last week on July 18.  Hmmm its crashing explorer each time I try to post them – will resize them even smaller and try again one at a time.

ok that above is her front yard.  below is the house.

her backyard with stables and greenhouse

and finally the main street - which is basically the entire town - other than one little side street that has 4 homes on it.

Not snow, but those storms in Sydney (Australia) today left hail near its most famous sandy beach at Bondi!

Surfboards were temporarily replaced by snowboards :D

Saw that on late news last night - what a huge fall of hail.  Whats the damage report ?  Was it comparable to April 99 ?

Hail storms in Sydney always mean my rooftiling brother gets more work !

this sure aint how we would usually be taking a stroll on the beach !!

This hailstorm was nowhere near as bad as the one in 1999 BMG, thank goodness  :)

THE clean up will continue today after hailstorms swept Sydney and the NSW south coast.

Hailstones up to 4cm in diameter broke windows and roof tiles, causing a spate of minor car crashes and covering roads in ice yesterday afternoon.

The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) responded to 250 calls for assistance yesterday.

SES spokeswoman Laura Goodin said most of the calls were from western Sydney, though damage was also reported as far south as Kiama.

Around 100 volunteers cleared hail-filled gutters and repaired broken roof tiles, windows and skylights yesterday.

Another 50 volunteers will help complete the clean-up today.

Ms Goodin said the storm could not even be compared to the hailstorm of 1999, when Sydney's eastern suburbs were battered by a massive hailstorm that left hundreds of homes severely damaged.

More rain battered Sydney late last night but no further problems were reported, Ms Goodin said.


This is how Bondi should look !