Blizz, thanks for the pics. You sure this was taken in the middle of the Aussie summer at Mt. Baw Baw?! That's not even in Tasmania! Crazy! That shot of a snow-covered Mt. Wellington and Hobart you just posted would kind of remind me of Vancouver in the spring.

Gee Mike 53 degrees North! Must get pretty close to 1 full day of light and 1 of darkness (occurs at 60 degrees right?)

I live in Hobart, Tasmania and we're only 43 degrees South which is close enough to the poles for my liking!

Blizz - have to charge ya for the photo's as there getting some decent air time! :p

I've put the photo's from that event Here

Cradle Mountain Jan 27th Here

Snow in summer up high isn't very rare in Tassie, think it's happened every summer since the start of the century. Stood in snow on Christmas eve and on the Australia day long weekend, 3 weeks later was caught in a torrential downpour/thunderstorm that delivered 4 inches of rain in just a few hrs - most of it in 90 minutes. A place of extremes sometimes.

LOL yeah on rare events in can snow in Vic. 2006 Christmas the alps got dumped with 30cm of snow! Wicked id say!

Mike you are right about Nz though, sometimes for the full experience down near Queenstown you can pick up ski deals that are cheaper than going to the Australian snow resorts, and very popular.

Japan does rock, I had a mate come back from Japan from a skiiiung trip and he was in looovvvee with the fresh powder he could ski and stir everyday!

Actually, that's 66°30' N, better known as the Arctic Circle, and the Antarctic Circle in the Southern Hemisphere. BTW, I spend some time even farther north than Edmonton, especially at Christmastime, when I'm in Grande Prairie, which is some 465 km NW of Edmonton and just north of 55°N.

In the Southern Hemisphere, 53°S is about as far south as Punta Arenas, Chile, and nearly as far south as Ushuaia, Argentina (54°S), the southernmost city on the planet. Last time Tasmania was that far south was probably about 20-25 million years ago, as Australia split off from Antarctica about 40 million years ago. New Zealand was also probably just as far south about 15 million years ago. But remember, the whole planet was warmer than it is today - there was tropical rainforest just south of the Gulf of Carpenteria, as there is an excellent fossil site from that age there known as Riversleigh.

"A Walk in the Woods" - a great read of BB's attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail. I dare anyone to read it and not laugh out loud!

Speaking of sub-antarctic islands, I'm currenty reading 'South' the Ernest Shackleton epic adventure from 1914. Crikey, the way those fellas survived at Elephant Island (61°08′S 55°07′W) for more than four months under two little boats is amazing. I imagine that temps from April to August would have varied from about 5C to about -15C? Others might know more. Apparently the survivors found the days just above freezing the worst.


Boat Hut on Elephant Island

Yeah, I've heard about that book many times; might be time that I read it too. That is interesting that the near-freezing temps were the worst to endure...something to do with the air moisture content? I would very much like to see Antarctica and or any of the islands in the southern ocean one day, especially Australian-administered Heard Island, 4000 kilometres west and south of Australia.

Big Ben, an active volcano on the island standing at 2745m has glaciers running from its slopes, covering 70% of the land. I saw a documentary about a scientific team who visited Heard Is. for a six-month summer research stint a few years ago (there are no permanent inhabitants) and they lived in insulated fibreglass water tanks that were removed after they left.

During the summer months that they stayed there were only two full days of clear, sunny weather, and light snow falling most other days. The islands lie at the point where the colder Antartic waters sink under the slightly warmer sub-antarctic, and the relative humidity stays at about 80% year-round.

Heard & MacDonald Islands website : contains some interesting weather information and photos about this unique part of Australian territory.

Yeah, I think the 'milder' days on Elephand Island were just above freezing which made their ice cave dwelling impossible and the 'Boat Hut' bad too, as melting ice and snow off the glacier just turned their dwelling into a pool.

Thanks for the link for Heard etc. I am privileged to have an old BoM mate (he's 90 now) that worked on Macquarie is. and also in Antarctica. He said the most awful experience in his life down there was not the cold but an absessed tooth that made his first visit awful. I might even ask if I can borrow some of his pics to scan as they are some of the absolute classics of that era just after the war.

Now, to get my 'snow tent' ready for Shooters this year.

And on another topic, it was lovely working outdoors up here today. Low to mid teens and light showers - bewdiful.

Just what every pioneering explorer at the bottom of the world needs to brighten their day; ice melt-water in the only (meagre) shelter from the elements. Your friend would have some fascinating accounts and photos of life in the Antarctic region to collate. I knew a fellow who wanted to work in the same places during the post-war period, but was turned down because of dental fillings that could cause problems in the extreme conditions.

A snow tent; that sounds like an investment I should make in the near future, along with a set of snowchains. Mid-twenties out here today with warm sun, cool easterly breeze, bits of cirrus and altocumulus about during the day, and a veil of cirrostratus tonight giving the moon a nice big halo.

RE snow chains, they are on special at Super Cheap Auto at the moment but they are not a perfect fit and some fiddling is needed, which is usual anyway unless you are willing to pay a packet.

My chain type: (they are also the ones on special ATM)

http://www.carpages.co.uk/news/news-images/snow_chains_28_12_05.jpg

Personally, I think a shovel and brand new, deeper treaded tyres are the best bet for 2WDs. My tyres are fine on the front but I will probably get brand new ones anyway in anticipation of a snowier season this year. I've also wondered if lower pressure in tyres (softer) is better over snowy roads as tyres to tend to harden up in temps below zero. Still, tyre pressure does drop in cold temps, about 1 pound per 5C I think.

Just received this from Rich KOIVISTO in Duluth, Minnesota. Not a bad spring fall, although still winter really up that way.

About 25cm of snow in two days.

The effect of 90km/r winds on Lake Superior

More here:

http://www.blackheathweather.com/photos.html

With this evenings thundery rain bands and showers Katoomba BMCC AWS has clicked over 500mm already for the year. Thats now not far off the 640mm odd that Mt Boyce had as a total for 2006 !
I think that Narrow neck station will also eclipse the 500mm mark tonight. Not even a 1/4 of the way thru the year.
I hope this trend continues thru winter as I always think a wet winter is a snowy one in the CT's

Incredible pics of Lake Superior ice slabs...the forces at work for that to happen would be huge.

I'm looking at buying some Konig chains...but $200 is quite a lot when you can get them a lot cheaper overseas. Must be the relative small number of sales made in Australia. Just got a full set of new tyres last October, so they should be OK for this winter.

An old thread (full of marvellous opinions ) from ski.com.au: Laws about snowchains in Victoria

We all love a bit on this talk on 'Old Snow pics et al'
'I hope this trend continues thru winter as I always think a wet winter is a snowy one in the CT's ' from Starwood
Just want the cooler weather to hold off until next weekend so I can do one last Wollangambe canyon in comfort.
8.5C here in Wentworth Falls this morning'
Andrew

I know im a little late but 256mm @ my grandparents place at Wentworth Falls. For Feb. that is.

We had close to 350mm at our place in Wentworth Falls (nr the Conservation Hut) & I thought the site was a little sheltered. I measure rain at 6-7pm each night so that could account for some error but not a 90mm difference. I suppose Katoomba (322mm) had much more that Mt Boyce (170mm) so there is local variability at work. Where Anewts (roughly) is your Grandparents place?? I had a chat to a bloke that lives close to the highway on the south side of Wentworth Falls & he had somewhere between 250-300mm in February , I can't remember his exact figure - he was an elderly guy - ?may have been your grandfather.
Andrew

Hey Andrew,

Just down near the Grand View on the south side.... Will have to check the figure when im next up there. Its in an open area so not like the rain gauge is in a bad place.

Been near the hut you would get more, but yeah.. is a bit of a difference. Maybe my grandma forgot to check it one day and it overflowed... will find out.

It got down to 6.0C overnight at Hampton on the weekend, and our neighbours reported an average of 40mm per week for the last month or so. It hasn't looked so good out there for a long time!

Nice to hear you back at the forum lately Finners. Hope you will be reporting all the heavy snow this winter as it heads from Hampton to Blackheath

The kanimbla valley certainly looks very green from my place. Nothing unusual I guess , just so long since its looked like that. I must say thru Jan and Feb there seem to be endless heavy black clouds over Hampton way. Hope it all continues. You have certainly added your share to Sydneys slight dam recovery so far this year.