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It does snow in Australia—at least in certain places. There are even ski resorts that are popular with tourists.
Does it snow in Australia?
Australia is more commonly associated with heat, sun, summer, and beaches. Snow is hardly ever considered. However, the fifth continent also offers snow and ski resorts. You can expect snow in these locations in Australia.
- The Australian Alps are very popular with skiers and snowboarders. Here you will find mountains such as Mount Hotham, Mount Buller, and Mount Baw Baw, all of which are covered in snow. They are located in the south of the country in the state of Victoria.
- The mountains of Tasmania, which also belongs to Australia, are also covered with snow. Tasmania is an island located south of Australia.
- You can expect the most snow during the winter months. In Australia, however, these are between June and August.
- Since Australia is located in the southern hemisphere, the seasons here are exactly opposite to those in Europe. This means that when it is summer in the northern hemisphere, it is cold in the southern hemisphere.
Snow disaster in Australia
Snow is not unusual in the mountains of Australia, but it is in the lowlands. These circumstances led to a special winter in New South Wales.
- In June 2022, there was a significant onset of winter, bringing with it up to 30 centimeters of fresh snow.
- This was the largest amount of snow in 54 years. What made it particularly unusual was that it happened in June, when winter is just beginning in Australia.
- This extraordinary phenomenon was caused by very cold air masses, some of which were below -3 °C. In addition, strong winds lowered the wind chill to around -21 °C.
- Extremely cold air masses that formed after a cold front caused this snow chaos. However, other climatic factors, such as La Nina and the Antarctic polar vortex, also contributed to the formation of such large amounts of snow.
