" ... Aussies have seen a vast array of wild weather events in 2021 with record-breaking floods, ferocious cold and monster ocean swells battering the continent.
Blizzards are the latest phenomenon to hit the Land Down Under, which have dumped up to a metre (3.3 feet) of early-season snow across vast swathes of New South Wales (NWS) as the state shivers through historic low temperatures.
According to 9News, NWS has suffered “a record-breaking start to winter … Sydney’s coldest day in 37 years.”
Sydney Observatory registered a Tmax of 10.3C on Thursday — the lowest since 1984;
while the city’s Airport logged 11.4C — a reading just 0.1C off its lowest June Tmax on record, in books dating back to 1939.
“It [Thursday] is definitely one of the coldest days in Sydney for a really, really long time,” said the Bureau of Meteorology’s Gabrielle Woodhouse.
A 9News headline reads: “NSW records coldest June day in 122 years.”
Other chilly locales include:
Bankstown, which woke to a low of 2.2C on Thursday morning and a windchill of zero.
And Campbelltown, which saw a low of 0.0C and a feels-like of -3.1C.
In the Blue Mountains it was a whiteout.
Most notably at The Three Sisters–an unusual rock formation in the NSW, located on the north escarpment of the Jamison Valley.
And while snow in the Blue Mountains isn’t all that unusual at this time of year, “what is rare,” says NWS reporter Laura Tunstall, “is this much of it falling during the day.”
Blizzard conditions have been reported across the state’s higher elevations.
The BOM’s Woodhouse continued, saying most places had snow above elevations of about 800 metres but it also fell in some locations towards the 500 metre mark, including in Inverell and Coonabarabran.
Residents have said the previous “big freeze” to come close to this was that of 1996 (solar minimum of cycle 22).
The snow fell all day, and was widespread, too.
Sizable accumulations were observed in the NSW Ranges including Bathurst, Orange, Blayney, Oberon, and Blackheath, among many others.
While 10 News First reports “thick snow in the alpine regions.”
Perisher, for example, received more than half a metre (1.7 feet) on Thursday morning with more building throughout the day as some of the coldest temperatures in 40 years rip through eastern Australia:
The snow left many roads impassible:
“Some guy” was even seen skiing down the Mitchell Highway, reported 9News.
While many regions rarely buffeted by snow received record-challenging totals.
Emergency services have advised “this weather event is serious” and people need to be cautious as snow falls and icy conditions form.
While the Bureau of Meteorology has called it “a significant event.”
Power outages have been reported, as have school closures and a host of cancelled flights.
“You know it’s cold when your grape vines start growing icicles!” tweeted the Bureau.
The below photo was taken by Stace Braun in South Australia’s Riverland area: