3 months ago
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Granite Belt locals and keen snow chasers have had their hopes of a white weekend rewarded after snow fell in the region on Saturday afternoon – the first in a decade.
Speculation that conditions were primed for snow in the region, about 2½ hours south-west of Brisbane, began during the week.
“I’m a local – lived here my whole life – and every 10 years or so, we get a dump. And we are due for that dump,” Leeanne Puglisi-Gangemi, from Ballandean Estate Wines, said on Tuesday.
By Saturday afternoon, the intuition of long-time residents and businesses based in Stanthorpe and surrounding localities paid off, with many posting pictures and videos on social media of snow falling.
“It’s now snowing around Stanthorpe!!” Stanthorpe Holiday Park posted on Facebook. “We have sleet at the park and snow is falling 10 min away at the higher peaks!”
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Holiday cabin and outdoor spa Orchard Hytte, located in Pozieres, posted footage of a flurry of snow falling near their site.
Senior meteorologist Baden Gilbert said the region was lucky to see any snow, with conditions only coming together in the afternoon.
“During Saturday, we did have a pool of cold air sitting over the Darling Downs and Granite Belt, as well as much of north-eastern New South Wales,” he said.
“But broadly, the conditions were not looking great for Queensland until about 3 or 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon, when we saw a very light … flurry of snow being observed in the area.”
Despite footage of snowflakes falling, Gilbert said the snow melted before landing, and didn’t settle with a “dump” on the ground.
“You couldn’t make a snow angel or snowman, it was just floating through the air.”
For those who didn’t score a booking over the weekend or take a day trip to the region, it might be a long wait for the next chance to experience snow in Queensland.
“There’s no more cold air left to generate any more snow, and the showers have also cleared off,” Gilbert said.
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“So if you didn’t get there yesterday, you’re going to have to wait another however many years to see snow again.”
Snowflakes in Stanthorpe Festival organiser Helen Gosney remembers the last big snow in 2015.
“That funny sloshing sound on the roof, and you know it’s not rain, it’s snow. It was blanketed everywhere,” she said.
“We’re the closest you can get to see snow in Queensland, and it’s a lot of excitement when it does happen.”
Brisbane woke to a chilly morning on Sunday, with high winds and below-average temperatures across the south-east.
While snow chasers might be hanging up their boots, conditions are primed for surfers chasing big waves, with hazardous surf warnings in place for swells in excess of four metres for the Gold Coast and around Moreton Bay.
With Nick Dent
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