You Yangs snow on eve of summer. Way-out weather

Peter Farago
GEELONG narrowly missed recording its lowest November temperature on Wednesday when the mercury struggled to 12.4 degrees amid reports of snow in the You Yangs.
But most residents would not have felt the difference between Wednesday’s extraordinarily dai-ly maximum and the city’s rec-ord low of 12.2 degrees, set in 1995.
Weeks earlier the region had sweltered through record high temperatures for October after record lows in September.
Geelong Weather Services’ Lindsay Smail pointed to a high-pressure system located unusually for south of Tasmania for directing cold Antarctic winds across south-east Australia this week.
“It’s very unusual for November to have one of these cold snaps,” Mr Smail said.
He had heard unconfirmed reports of snow on the You Yangs. But he also heard confirmed reports of snow on the Otways behind Lorne, as well as at Mt Buninyong, Trentham and Beaufort.
“It wouldn’t surprise me that it would snow on the Brisbane Ranges or the You Yangs,” Mr Smail said.
The cold blast also caused havoc on the bays, with wind averaging 30 knots and gusts up to 45 creating dangerous conditions for small vessels.
Mr Smail said the cold snap had brought remarkable weather events but it was not a sign the drought impacting Australia was about to break.
Mr Smail said the six to 10 millimetres of rain on Wednes-day was “unremarkable”.
“It’s just a temporary change that will last a day or two,” he said.
“It will fine up for the weekend.
“We’re still in the drought.”