By Bryn Jones
This winter seems to be unusually cold throughout S.E. Australia.
We in the Yarra Valley, have been well aware of the wintry conditions, many locals claiming they hardly remember it being so consistently cold.
The Bureau of Meteorology has acknowledged ‘the cold snap’ we’ve experienced, emanating from the Arctic, and predicting the likelihood of ‘snow showers’ yet to come.
Conversely, we have been getting reports from the Northern Hemisphere of people dying from heatwaves in Northern India, of extreme heat in Saudi Arabia, of bushfires caused by severe drought and heat in Greece, and the highest temperatures ever recorded in extensive areas of North America, some climate scientists have provided data to show that 2023 was the warmest on record and that 2024 is likely to prove even hotter.
Our memories, of course, are not always completely reliable; in the case of Healesville, for example, two years in relative recent times stand out as being ‘cold’, in the context of snow falling and ‘settling’.
The Healesville Guardian on 20 August 1932 described the day as follows:
‘An exceptionally heavy fall of snow occurred at Healesville on Sunday last (12 August). Commencing early until late in the afternoon, and was the heaviest fall here for twenty years. Snowballing was indulged in, in the main street, where several ‘snowmen’ were erected. Maroondah Reservoir presented a beautiful spectacle, especially the Spillway, the rockeries being buried deep in snow …Towards 5pm heavy rain showers dispersed the snow.’
1951, similarly, saw the town’s main throughfare, Nicholson Street and surrounding areas covered with a good coating of snow.
A photograph of two snowmen built by teacher, the late Frank Foxcroft, and students at Healesville Primary School as tall as Frank himself, gives a good indication of the amount of snow that fell at the time.
Some locals remember a fair amount of snow falling in the Healesville area in 1986, but the ‘Mountain Views’ recorded, with a photo.
Only a heavy fall on Mt Donna Buang.
Hillier areas throughout the Yarra Valley are no strangers to snowfalls, and many residents and visitors enjoy the experience.
Incidentally, Melbourne’s lowest recorded temperature was 21 July 1869 at -2.8C (26.960F).
