This weekend I was at my mother’s place in the Southern Highlands, a colder, higher area about 120km south-west of Sydney. And we got snow for about half an hour. Very exciting!
Nice. It snowed today in the Lithgow area too (my sister lives there). Not much in the way of ground cover, but a bit piled up around fence posts etc. Second time in a couple of weeks.
Being a good Sydney girl, my sister had to drive into Lithgow but was too scared to. 
It’s 57 degrees this morning, and got into the low 50s last night. I had my long fuzzy pants on.
This wouldn’t be significant if I wasn’t in the fookin’ northern hemisphere and it wasn’t bloody August.
Good sleeping weather!
Athena, where I am, even in August at night the temps drop into the 40s. Every night. It’s lovely for sleeping. It also means my house stays really nice and cool during the day.
I’m looking forward to winter again. I absolutely love the changes in seasons, I’ve never lived anywhere with four really distinct seasons before. Summer’s been nice, but I’m ready for a change. The nice thing is that it will change, and soon. Fall is right around the corner, really.
I like the change in weather too, but I swear to all that is holy, if we have a replay of last winter, I’ll… I don’t know what I’ll do, but it won’t be pretty.
Me, too. We had a lovely cool, dry sunny day here. It’s a gift in August.
After living in various southerly places for most of my life, moving to the Idaho mountains has been a revelation for me about what seasons are supposed to be like. I don’t want to live anywhere hot and humid again ever if I can help it.
Cunctator, I assume that snow there is a very unusual thing? I don’t think I’ve ever really heard anything about snow anywhere in Australia.
It’s not so unusual where my mother lives because her town is at quite a high altitude (by Australian standards): 660m. They get some snow probably every second winter on average, and a reasonable dump at least once every 4-5 years. This winter has been considerably colder than previous years’ winters, and so they’ve already had a couple of minor falls. They’ve had more snow flurries again there today. There’s always snow in winter on the mountains further south, where the Australian ski fields are. However in some years it may be patchy and not particularly good for skiers. I gather it’s very good coverage this year though.
Snow is much less common in the major cities (except Canberra), because they’re all on the coast at sea level. It hasn’t snowed in Sydney itself since June 1836.
Well, if there’s a place to ski in Hawaii, why not in Australia?
Well, if the current Australian winter is as snowy as our last one, you’ll have LOTS of skiing. The six-storey-high pile of snow that had been transported from the city streets and dumped near Kipling subway station has finally melted. Isn’t your winter half over though?
I was startled to find that the ski areas in Australia have pretty much the same climate as Southern Ontario: four months of winter with snow, a discrete spring and fall, and four months of summer. So just imagine five million people living on top of Mount Kosciusko, or however you spell it, and you’ll have an idea of what weather life in Toronto is like.
Pretty much. The really cold weather in Sydney doesn’t normally extend beyond the end of August or the first couple of weeks of September, although early spring can be variable too. July is the coldest month, but we’re having a late winter chill at the moment. Further south though, winter tends to last longer.
I know what winter in Toronto is like. I was there in February a few years ago. I didn’t think it was all that bad, but I was assured by locals that it was an exceptionally mild winter (2002).
I could handle that. What is pissing me off is that the days are hovering in the low to mid 60s. I want a beach day!
Athena, you are in the fookin’ UP. Where your summer is only 4 weeks long. I thought you got the memo.
I can’t wait for fall.
So I can rototil my weed garden down.
Yep. It’s 18 C (64 F) here right now. My wife tells me that there were only 4 days in July when it did NOT rain. I think it’s rained every day so far in August. This has been the worst summer I have ever experienced.
I’ve been enjoying it. But then I have English ancestry. 
Hell, I was born in Scotland! Maybe that’s why I thrive on sunshine! Besides, I had friends from Toronto here on the weekend. They told me it’s been hot in Toronto this summer. Believe me, hot is not a word I’ve used at all in Ottawa this summer. It wouldn’t be so bad if last winter didn’t lick so badly. I just want sun!!!
Live in the mountains - you get the best of both worlds! Nice warm 80-some degree days in the summer, then it goes down to fifty at night. Sure a thunderstorm worthy of Zeus may spring up from time to time (okay, techincally, every afternoon), but you can see it coming! Literally - just look around and you’ll see the clouds creeping up the mountain!
Heh. That’s what we tell you trolls. In reality, most UP summers hover around 80-85 degrees and are absolutely gorgeous.
But not THIS summer 
No snow here in lower NY, but I did notice yellow leaves for the first time, one of which fell to the ground!