Here in Tenterfield, NSW on the 17th July 2015 we woke up to about 2cm of snow covering everything. We had prior to, and including this day, 2-3 days of freezing cold Antartic winds. There was some warning of potential snow at least but no-one expected it to actually snow in town itself even though the weather forecast predicted it. A lot of people here, adults and children alike, had never touched or seen snow before, myself included.
The wildlife, domestic and native were at first excited then annoyed (probably) by the snow. It was cold and it made body parts stick to inanimate objects like cameras (for us humans). The animals/birds avoided touching the snow. My brother, who took all these photos (as I still don't have a camera), said he saw a Masked Lapwing standing in water and it's wing feather were stuck together. The bird had to unstick it's feather before it could fly away, which it did so awkwardly. Birds were flying to and from areas (on the ground) were the grass was still exposed.
By about 1PM the same day it began to rain and started melting the snow rapidly. By 3:30PM the snow in Tenterfield had all but melted except in a few small pockets.
Frosty the Snowman was born that morning, and was helped to stay alive by generous donations of snow from Mt McKenzie by passing tourists. The snowman was made by my neighbours 2 kids mostly who sought out donations of snow by holding up a sign for people in passing cars to read.The snowman survived a further 2 days before finally melting into extinction.
If you took photos of the snow on this day please add them as a comment.
We got a very heavy fall north of Bathurst on Friday morning. About 10cm, it stayed around all day and there was still a bit 2 days later. I don't think animals mind snow very much, wind and rain are worse. The snow at my place was full of animal tracks, kangaroos and wallabies, wombats rabbits and foxes. It does make it hard for them to find the grass.
It was a fantastic event, great story about Frosty the Snowman. I like the snow donating idea. The transformation of familiar places, created by snow, is magical.
Obviously we got significantly more in the Blue Mountains, about 17cm in Katoomba and up to 19cm in higher areas. Natural snow lasted until Monday while some snowmen lasted until Thursday morning, almost a week later.
Nothing visited the bird bath but there was still birdlife around, such as my regular pair of Tawny Frogmouths (subsp. Snowy Frogmouth
).
How cool, looks like good fun.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Oh wow, 10cm of snow. That's a lot. Love your photo, GregL. I found it strange how the snow changed the scenery and everything I was used to looking at looked different. I didn't see any native animals that day (i.e. kangaroos) but the farm animals did seem to be excited about the snow. It was way too cold for me to be out in the snow. The wind was freezing cold. We're not used to freezing Antartic winds here. On the 17th July, it was the 2nd time it snowed in the area. That is ultra rare for this area as normally it would only snow for just one day out of the whole year. Tenterfield hasn't been covered in snow in more than 30 years (apparently).
Here's some more pics that I added to a video slideshow on Youtube taken on the same day. My brother took all the photos by the way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p94cLaMB7g
I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)
Hey, Owl, I love all the photos of the snow you added. A bonus birdy photo - AWESOME!
Without reading the text you added to your 3rd photo, it is impossible to tell what the object is under the snow. At first I thought it was a giant fungi or a tree stump. God I'm stupid. A bird bath? No way. It doesn't even remotely look like a bird bath under snow. I believe you but it just doesn't look like it. Snow is deceptive! It messes with your mind.
I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)
Hi Jason. Didn't you get any snow where you live? Maybe you'll get snow next time round! Seeing snow fall to the ground, building snowmen, etc, and just being "out in the snow" is very cold. Icy cold for us warm blooded humans up the top half of Oz. Its the danged icy cold blast of air from the south pole that makes it unbearable unless you dress up like a polar bear. And if your home isn't insulated properly, like mine is, you can't get your home or yourself warm even if you sit right in front of the heater. I'm just glad it didn't last long.
I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)