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No bluffing, snow just fell in WA
Anthony Sharwood, Wednesday August 10, 2022 - 08:48 AEST
Snow has fallen on Bluff Knoll in the Stirling Range in SW Western Australia, with locals flocking to see the flakes.
Image: It's usually just the very summit of the mountain that sees settled snow. Source: Jodie Jones.
We wrote yesterday about the severe chill headed for the southwestern corner of WA, noting that a particularly icy pool of air was tracking northwards from the Southern Ocean.
For example, Perth had its coldest day of 2022 to date yesterday, with temps in the single-digit range for all but a few hours and a maximum of just 12.1°C.
That's the sort of weather when you'd pretty much expect snow on the Stirling Range. Locals knew it too, heading out in large numbers (as you can see in this ABC Video) to catch a glimpse of a weather phenomenon which generally only occurs once or twice a year in Western Australia.
How unusual is snow in WA?
As mentioned, it actually happens once or twice a year, but snow can fall as early as Easter and as late as mid-Spring.
The Stirling Range is only an hour or so north of Albany at a latitude of 34.3° South. That would place it roughly halfway between Sydney and Canberra (on a north-south axis) if it were on the east coast.
The highest point, Bluff Knoll, is a 1099 m summit. Again, to use an east coast example, that makes it similar in height (and latitude) to Blackheath, the Blue Mountains town two hours west of Sydney that also tends to receive one or two snowfalls each winter.
So while some people may wake up this morning and go, "What??? It snowed in WA? Has the world gone crazy?" this is actually far from an uncommon event.
As mentioned earlier, you just need a particularly cold airmass in the wake of a cold front, and the chart on Tuesday afternoon snows how the air striking the region around Albany has tracked northwards direct from polar region.
You can also see that it tracked a fair way north along WA's west coast, which is why places like Geraldton struggled to get past the mid-teens on Tuesday.
The good news for chilled-to-the-bone West Australians is that temps should warm in coming days with showers clearing too. The bad news is that the next front arrives on the weekend bringing showers, although temps likely won’t be quite so cold this time.
Oh, and for the record, your humble correspondent has hiked to the summit of Bluff Knoll. It's a good challenging day walk, about two hours each way from the car park for fit people (so yeah, it took more like three hours each way!) The views from the top are absolutely sensational.
- Weatherzone
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2022
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