Man and dog rescued from flooding in Wangaratta0:41
As Wangaratta flood waters threatens homes, a man and his dog have been rescued from a tree amongst the rising waters. Courtesy: Seven News
Snow at this time of year? Victoria’s chilly spring sees October out with snow falls in parts of the state
VICTORIA’S disappointing start to spring rolls on today with frigid westerly winds for today’s Melbourne Cup parade and snow in some parts of the state.
Gwynneth Cowley, the publican at the Beechy Hotel in Beech Forest, in the Otway Ranges between Colac and Apollo Bay, says she woke at 5.45am to see snow on the ground and got busy with her camera, posting images to the pub’s Facebook page.
“It’s hard to believe we’re a month out from summer,” she laughed.
Ms Cowley, who has lived in Beech Forest for the past three years, says locals have told her late snow is not unusual in the area.
“I haven’t seen it at this time of year, but one lady commented on our (Facebook) page that she say it on Cup Day once, and somebody else said it snowed up here on Christmas Day in recent memory, so it does happen but it’s an unusual event.”
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The snow began to dissipate quickly as the air warmed and a little rain fell, Ms Cowley said.
“There’s not enough for them to really play with,” she said.
“My son got a little bit excited. He said, ‘Does that mean I’m staying home?’, but I said, ‘No, the bus is coming’.”
Snow was forecast to fall in Victoria as low as 800 metres this morning, lifting to 1500 metres during the day.
It’s par for the course in what has been a cool, wet October across the state.
Melbourne was uniformly cool across the month but, in terms of rainfall, it was a city of two halves.
The city’s average maximum temperature was 19C, down on the long-term average of 19.7C, with rainfall in its city gauge at Olympic Park of 61.6mm, a tick above the long-term average of 60mm.
But while rainfall was around average in the city and the west, the eastern suburbs were significantly wetter in October, Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Richard Carlyon says.
“The eastern suburbs can be a lot wetter than the city and particularly the western suburbs if we have a dominance of westerly winds, and that’s what we have had,” he said.
“We’ve had cold front after cold front through the month and a lot of westerlies, and that sets up a lot of difference between the west and the east.”
SEE THE WILD WEATHER THAT HAS SHOCKED VICTORIANS OVER THE PAST 100 YEARS
The eastern suburbs are closer to the Dandenongs and the Yarra Ranges, which tend to trap moisture-laden clouds and bring more rain in the east.
“It’s been 1C to 2C below average through the Melbourne area for maximum temperature, so it’s been a cool, wettish month,” Mr Carlyon said.
The cooler trend was reflected around the state, with temperatures 1C to 3C below average, but rainfall in many parts of Victoria, especially in the north, 15 to 50 per cent above average, Mr Carlyon said.
“That followed on from a wettish time through winter and in September. You have to go back to autumn before you get another dry month,” he said.
By contrast, October 2015 was the warmest October in Melbourne since records began in 1856, with an average maximum of 24.3C.
Early in the month, the Lancefield region was ravaged by a bushfire caused by a controlled burn in state forest that jumped containment lines amid unseasonal heat and hot, dry winds.
There were five days in Melbourne above 30C, and only 10mm of rain fell for the month.
AFTER A COLD WINTER AND SOGGY, WINDY SPRING, THERE’S FINALLY GOOD NEWS
In Melbourne for today’s Melbourne Cup eve parade, it will be 17C – the same as the minimum temperature on Sunday morning - with a 60 per cent of showers. Up to 1mm is expected to fall.
For tomorrow’s big race, the weather news is not great.
Expect a top of 18C with a 60 per cent chance of showers developing in the late morning and afternoon and northwesterly winds of 20 to 30km/h tending westerly during the day, easing by evening.
Up to 2mm of rain is expected, so the best advice is to dress for a cool day and take a brolly if you can.
Last week, the Bureau of Meteorology’s climate outlook for November to January predicted warmer-than-average minimum and temperatures across most of Victoria, with rainfall close to average.