Several towns in eastern Australia have experienced their heaviest snowfall in decades, causing floods, stranding vehicles, and cutting power to thousands of homes. A cold air front dropped up to 40 cm (16 inches) of snow on parts of northern New South Wales on Saturday, the most since the mid-1980s, according to Miriam Bradbury, a meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).
Snow also settled in areas of neighbouring Queensland for the first time in ten years. Bradbury noted that climate change has made Australia's weather more volatile in recent years, but such events have occurred several times in the historical record. "What makes this event unusual is how much snow we had, but also how widespread, covering quite a large part of the northern tablelands," she said.
The New South Wales State Emergency Service reported responding to more than 1,455 incidents, with over 100 vehicles stranded by snow, storms damaging buildings, and several major flood warnings issued. Tens of thousands of homes spent the night without power, according to state broadcaster ABC.
Police in New South Wales said a car became stuck in floodwater on Saturday evening, and a female passenger in her 20s was swept away. The search continued on Sunday.
