Coldest November day in 100 years

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20767507-5005361,00.html

November 16, 2006 08:23am

SYDNEY today recorded its lowest minimum temperature in November for more than 100 years - with the mercury dropping as low as 8C today.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Rob Webb said it was 8.3C about 5.45am (AEDT).

The temperature had not been that low in November since 1905. 

The average minimum low for the month is about 15C.

The weather was expected to get slightly warmer with a top of 15C forecast, although this is well below the average November maximum of 24C.

"This has only happened four or five times in the past to have a maximum that low,'' Mr Webb said 

"Statewide we haven't got the records yet but there is probably a handful of records with some areas breaking 20- or 30-year records for minimum November temperatures.'' 

Temperatures as low as zero were recorded in the Blue Mountains where firefighters are battling two blazes.

Strong winds were expected to make conditions difficult for crews until they drop off later in the day. 

A cold morning tomorrow is forecast for most of the state but it should get warmer through the day. 

"After a frosty start it should back away to a more typical summer pattern with temperatures to average or even above average across NSW,'' Mr Webb said.

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Snow is 'bucketing down'

Residents battle the inclement conditions in Armstrong St, Ballarat.

Unseasonable snowfalls are providing some excitement throughout the state, but are a few months late for Victoria's alpine resorts.

"It's absolutely bucketing down - like it never did this winter. It is really snowing hard at the moment - it would have been nice in August,'' Mt Hotham Resort marketing manager Jessica Rose told theage.com.au.

"We probably have on the ground now about three or four centimetres, which for November is quite amazing.''

Weather forecaster Peter Blake said snowfalls would continue this afternoon and evening in areas such as the Dandenongs, Mt Macedon, Gippsland, the Western District and the Otway Ranges.

"We're forecasting snow down to around about 400 metres ... so quite a lot of areas have a chance of having snow,'' he said.

And the north of the state will also get a taste of the wild weather, with hail and thunder possible as far north as Albury.

Olinda, in the Dandenongs, received its second snow fall in a month, after getting a dusting three weeks ago.

Sean Robertson, the general manager of the SkyHigh observatory on Mount Dandenong, said a stormfront hit at about 8.30am, spreading a film of hail across the ground.

"It's snowing pretty heavily at the moment,'' he said.

The manager of Mt Dandenong Bakery, Lyn Field, said she is doing a brisk trade selling meat pies and coffee to locals seeking refuge from the cold.

"We're just hoping some more comes down because it's rather exciting, much more interesting than the rain,'' she said.

"It was just a sprinkling ... but this time of year it's most unusual to have any of it.''

The fairways at Olinda golf course are deserted.

"It's freezing ... enough for your face to be numb if you haven't got anything covering it,'' said Suzanne De Groot, worker at on-course cafe Barrachi.
But the people of The Dandenongs were not alone in their cold snap.

Near-freezing temperatures greeted Victorians all across the state as an antarctic blast put spring on ice.

Snow also fell in Ballarat, Bacchus Marsh and the Stzrelecki Ranges in South Gippsland.

The second unseasonable cold snap to hit the state in the past month also brought good news for some drought-stricken farmers with up to 20mm of rain reported at Leongatha.