Freak summer snow falls in Australia

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Summer snow falls on NSW towns AAP January 18, 2010, 4:13 pm

Summer holidaymakers could be forgiven for thinking winter has come a few months

early, with a cold snap bringing a light dusting of snow to some parts of NSW.

Southern NSW, , Tasmania and South Australia were hit by an unseasonable

cold front on Monday, with temperatures plummeting to near zero in the Snowy

Mountains. Towns such as Thredbo, and Cooma in the NSW Southern Tablelands,

reported a brief flurry of snow on Monday morning, Bureau of Meteorology Duty

forecaster Jane Golding said.

" We had falls in the Snowy's and down to about 900 metres above sea level, " Ms

Golding told AAP. " We had a cold front and it brought a lot of cold, dry air

with it, and also thunderstorms. The origin of (the front) looks like it was

well south in the southern ocean. "

Ms Golding said summer snow was a rare occurrence in towns such as Cooma. " In

Cooma, records began there in 1973 and we've never had any observations of snow

there in December, January and February, " she said.

" They generally get five days of snow (per year), so it is unusual any time of

year to snow in Cooma. "

http://au.news./a/-/latest/6691129/summer-snow-falls-on-nsw-towns/