Key facts
- The Bureau of Meteorology had forecast the snow that fell on November 8.
- The report said such November falls are uncommon, with many affected sites also recording snow in November 2022.
- At midday on November 8, apparent temperatures in five southeastern capitals were all below 13C.
- The bureau attributed the cold to air moving north from toward Antarctica and south-westerly winds.
Snow fell across parts of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania on November 8 as a cold air mass moved through southeastern Australia, the report said. Thredbo, Perisher and Mount Hotham all recorded falls, and snow also fell on kunanyi/Mount Wellington in Hobart.
The Bureau of Meteorology had forecast the snow. The report said such falls are uncommon but not entirely unusual, noting that many of the places hit in the preceding 24 hours also recorded snow in November 2022. Photographs and social media posts accompanied the falls, including a Perisher Valley snow stake image timed at 8:18 a.m. on November 8.
The bureau attributed the chill to a weather system carrying cold air north from toward Antarctica, with south-westerly winds pushing apparent temperatures below forecast maximums. At midday, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra and Sydney all had temperatures that felt cooler than 13C. Adelaide had the highest maximum at the time, 17.5C, which felt like 12.3C; Canberra had the lowest, a maximum of 12.9C that felt like 5.3C. Brisbane, Perth and Darwin recorded temperatures in the 20s or 30s.
Warmer temperatures were forecast for Monday, with all capital cities expected to reach at least 20C by Tuesday. The report also said the bureau, the UN and other bodies have warned about likely effects of a supercharged El Niño, which it said is predicted to bring a hotter, drier southern hemisphere summer and greater wildfire and drought risk in Australia and southern Africa.