Days after a blistering heatwave, it's now snowing Down Under
It's been really bloody hot in Australia recently. But now it's snowing. In summer. Yes, really.
Less than two weeks ago that much of the country endured days of relentless heatwaves, leading to temperatures of around 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) along the eastern coast.
For a brief moment, it was hell on earth, bolstering the increasing trend of heatwaves in Australia getting longer and more intense -- an impact of climate change, according to Climate Council research.
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Now fast forward to Sunday, and it was snowing in the Victorian alpine areas of Mount Hotham, Falls Creek and Mount Buller.
Temperatures dropped from warm highs of 20 degrees Celcius during the heatwave, to a cold (by Australian standards) low of -2 degrees Celsius (28.4 degrees Fahrenheit) this week.
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"We had a pool of very cold air come up from the Southern Ocean, behind the front that went through on Sunday, and that led to below average temperatures across the state," senior forecaster at the Victorian Bureau of Meteorology, Dean Stewart, said.
In Melbourne, it was the coldest February in 12 years, at 17.3 degrees Celsius.
"The pool of cold air has now well and truly moved out to the Tasman Sea, so we're back to close to average temperatures today," he said.
Summer snow only occurs every two years or so in February, although as the Bureau of Meteorology don't keep records on snowfall, it is not known how much snow actually fell.
But considering it's summer Down Under, any snow is enough to make us scratch our heads.
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