Snow, wind and rain whip eastern Australia

ABC News, 16 October 2010

Snow, floods and gale-force winds have swept across eastern Australia overnight, transforming parts of New South Wales and Victoria into springtime winter wonderlands.

Spring fall: Snow hangs in the trees around Laggan,
in the New South Wales southern tablelands.
(Audience submitted: Annemaree Offley)

More than 200 people have been forced to flee their homes in southern New South Wales, where a creek burst its banks and homes were flooded.

In Queensland, strong winds have caused havoc on roads and in Victoria snow has blanketed parts of the state and flood warnings are in place.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued flood warnings for all three states.

The bureau's Simon Allen says the overnight extremes are unusual.

"The weather this time of year can be quite variable, however it was a strong cold front that moved through yesterday and overnight," he said.

"We did get snow down to very low levels, which certainly can happen, but it's probably fairly late in the year, but it was a very strong cold front."

Mr Allen says the conditions are expected to ease in the coming days.

Springtime snow

The cold front, which swept through parts of Victoria and New South Wales, dumped snow down to as low as 500 metres above sea level.

There have been falls at Mount Dandenong and there is a thick blanket of snow in the ranges north-east of Melbourne.

The falls have forced police to close part of the Whittlesea-Kinglake Road at Kinglake.

Jane Bayliss, who has a farm near Pheasant Creek, says it is white as far as she can see.

"Everywhere is covered, it looks really beautiful and it's quite thick," she said.

"I love looking at it on the branches. It's all on the branches of all the trees and the bushes. It looks really beautiful."

In New South Wales, there have been reports of snow falls at Orange and Bathurst in the state's central west and in the flood-affected town of Tumbarumba in the south-west.

Tumbarumba Shire Council general manager Kay Whitehead says there is now snow there, after flooding hit the area overnight.

Residents in the area had to be evacuated amid fears the nearby Mannus Creek Dam may breach its banks, however it is now stable and staff are assessing the damage.

Ms Whitehead says roads are reopening but care needs to be taken with the cold conditions.

Snow blankets a tractor in Laggan, near Crookwell in
the New South Wales southern tablelands.
(Audience submitted: Jonathon Offley)

"The road to Tumut is open, however it does have a lot of snow on it, so people need to take care and they should call the RTA or Tumut before coming through there. The road to Wagga is open," she said.

Around 100 people are expected to be allowed to return to their homes near Tumbarumba later today.

Roads closed

Residents who had to leave their homes at Lockhart and Holbrook overnight are now being allowed to return.

The flooding has caused the Hume Highway to close between the Sturt Highway and Holbrook.

Across Sydney, crews are cleaning up debris on the roads.

And on the F3 near Hornsby, two southbound lanes have been closed after a truck rolled.

Floodwaters are also receding in the village of The Rock, near Wagga Wagga, where about 100 people were evacuated overnight.

In Queensland, winds of over 90 kilometres an hour have caused damage and cut power.

A large gum tree crashed onto a house in the Brisbane suburb of Bardon during this morning's wild winds, narrowly missing a child's bedroom.

Police say there has been reports of mini-tornados at Eidsvold in the North Burnett and that motorists have struggled with fallen trees across roads.

About 27,000 homes have lost power, with crews out repairing damage from the Gold Coast to the North Burnett and west to Kingaroy and Toowoomba.

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