Past Snowfalls
The Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands usually see at least one decent snowfall per winter. Of course, some seasons are better than others and during these times we can see more than half a dozen falls throughout a season. Below are some of the dates of the more significant falls experienced in our region. Please feel free to email me with corrections or more snowfall details (even photos). Special thanks goes to Laurier Williams from Australian Weather News, Mr Travis Kingston, Jim Nugent, Blair Trewin and Mr NASA for supplying most of this information.
Historical Blue Mountains Snowfalls:
1834 and 1836: "The hills to the west were white!" came the Sydney reports of snow in these years. The local papers reported snow to the beaches in 1836. Estimates of depth vary but a few centimetres seem to have fallen from the city to the west in 1836. It's possible this was actually soft hail rather than snow but it seems reasonable that the inhabitants of Sydney at this time (having not long come from England) would have been quite familiar with the appearance of snow. Apparently the natives were very shocked at the sight of a frozen city. It appears the temperature hovered around zero until at least mid morning. Imagine the photographic scenes of that day, white with snow from Sydney to Blackheath!
July 4th 1900: Perhaps the biggest snowfall in Blackheath's recorded history. Around 90cm fell on this day, trapping the Barton Brothers in the Grose Valley as heavy snow turned to rain. See this story under the Cold Climate Information link on the main page.
Summer Snowfalls: Here's a few summer snowfall dates, that are very rare up this way. Might even be worth a bit more research as time permits. 1893 - 30th of December - Snow reported across the Blue Mountains. 1895 - 24th of December - Snow reported at Oberon a few days before Christmas. 1952 - 12th of December - Light snow/sleet reported for the Blue Mountains. 1993 - 27th of December - Snow reported at Oberon. Thanks to Mr NASA and Blair Trewin for this info - if anyone has more information or photos, please send it through.
NB: I've now received an excellent collection of Blue Mountains historical snow records from 'Mr NASA' in Blackheath. These are from the currently available archived reports of snow events from the early 1800s to the 21st century. Of course, this is a work in progress and may not include every single snowfall but does substantially cover this period. The dates listed are the dates of the published articles - in most cases the actual snowfall preceded that date by a day or two. Thanks 'Mr NASA' for doing all of the work!
Click the link to view the Snowfall News Archives - starting from early 1800s. Thanks to Mr NASA for doing all of the research.
Also, click this link below to view the Upper Blue Mountains - Snowfall Trend Chart 1855 - 2011. Thanks to Mr NASA for this.
Click this link to view the Blackheath - Snowfall Trend Chart 1855 - 2011.
Click this link to view the Upper Blue Mountains - Snowfall Trend Chart 1989 - 2012.
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Additional Records Covering the Period 1957 to 1998
Sources: Laurier Williams, Travis Kingston, Jim Nugent and Blair Trewin.
1957: Heaviest snow for twelve years on the Blue Mountains. Trains were delayed and roads were blocked.
1958: Late season snow on 5th and 21st of September. First snow on the ground at Molong for five years.
1959: 26th of June brought snowfalls into the Blue Mountains, Orange to the west recorded around 10cm. Again from the 23rd to 25th of July, light to moderate snow was recorded in our region with around 15cm at Blackheath and 5cm at Katoomba. Snow reported at Molong. More snow fell over the Blue Mountains on the 20th of September and the 20/22 of October.
1960: Orange had eight separate snowfalls this winter! From the 5th - 16th of May, light to moderate falls were recorded in the Central Tablelands. More snow fell in the last two weeks of June and enough snow fell on 4/5 July to block roads in the Blue Mountains. The 17th -20th of July saw extensive snowfalls with Oberon recording 30cm and 5 to 15cm falls being general. On 2/3 August, light falls occured over the Blue Mountains with more falls on the 9/10 of August. More snow showers of light to moderate intensity fell over the Central Tablelands in September. Snowflakes were reported in Sydney during this winter.
1961: A deep southerly stream brought 8cm of snow to the Blue Mountains on the 3/4 May. Another fall on the 21/22 of June saw 12-15cm of snow fall across the Blue Mountains. Lighter falls restricted to highland areas occured another five times before the end of August. Snowflakes and/or sleet was reported in Sydney during this winter.
1962: Sydney suburbs reported sleet in this winter. Five falls were recorded across the tablelands but only the 1/2 August and the 20/21 were of significance. Blue Mountains roads were closed during these falls with up to 15cm in the higher areas of the Central Tablelands on the 21st. The Hume Highway was also closed between Moss Vale and Goulburn on the 21st.
1963: Light snow fell along the Central Tablelands in the period 2nd to 13th of July and there were more widespread light falls on the 16th and 30th of August.
1964: Only one extensive snowfall this winter, in western areas of the Central Tablelands. The date is unknown although possibly July.
1965: July 17th to 19th saw one of the heaviest and most widespread snowfalls on record across the Central Tablelands in spite of the poor ski season down south. In the Blue Mountains snow fell continuously from around 9:30am on the 17th to 4:30pm on the 18th. From Katoomba through to Mount Victoria the snow depth averaged 45cm! All roads in the area were closed and steam engines were used to keep a chaotic train service running. More typical, lighter falls occured on the 22nd of June and the 13th of July.
1966: Widespread light snow fell on the 22nd of August and another widespread outbreak brought snow to the Blue Mountains on the 3rd and 4th of October.
1967: 15cm of snow fell over the western, Central Tablelands on the 6th and 7th of August and on the 13th and 14th of August, snow fell to 700 metres in the Bathurst region.
1968: Six widespread snowfalls occured away from the Alps in this season with the 22/23 July being the most significant. Up to 15cm of snow fell at the higher levels of the Central Tablelands during this outbreak. Light to moderate falls were also recorded on 15/16 August and the 20-22. An outbreak on the 14/15 of May brought widespread falls all the way to Queensland with 5 to 10cm of coverage. Widespread snow on the 1/2 of October gave a 5 to 12cm cover in our region. 24-26 October saw a late fall in and around Orange.
1969: The fall of 29/31 of May was the only significant one, giving up to 13cm across the Central Tablelands.
1970: A fantastic ski season down south with Charlotte Pass peaking at around 300cm! 16-18 of August saw depths of up to 15cm across the Central Tablelands. 1st of September saw widespread snow across the Central Tablelands with 23cm on the ground at Blackheath and Wentworth Falls recording 15cm!
1971: Blair Trewin from the BoM suggests the 7th and 8th of November saw snow, probably in Orange but possibly Katoomba too. Please confirm if you have any records/details.
1972: Snow was extensive across the Central Tablelands on 7/8 July and also 11/12 August but only light to moderate ground coverage.
1973: No significant falls on the Central Tablelands.
1974: 23-25 May saw around 5cm across the Central Tablelands and Blue Mountains. 6/8 July and 15/16 of August saw light snow in the Blue Mountains.
1975: 12th of June saw snow fall across the Blue Mountains with Blackheath recieving around 10cm and Lithgow 15cm.
1976: No recorded falls for our region.
1977: The 29th and 30th of June saw snow fall in the Blue Mountains and again snow showers fell on the 24th to 27th of July.
1978: An excellent ski season down south which helped light snow to fall on numerous days across the Central Tablelands. The 12/13 of September was the most widespread snowfall in our region.
1979: A poor ski season down south. Light snowfalls occured in our region on the 11th of May, 12/13 of August and 28th of October.
Travis Kingston has kindly given me his records for Blackheath. Below are some extracts from his observations.
1982: Snowed on three days this winter. Zero degrees or below as a minimum was reached on fifty one days. Lowest maximum was 3C on 29th of July. Lowest minimum was -4C on 22nd July. Yearly rainfall = 918mm. SOI in July = -19.
1983: Snowed on two days - NB: 17th of November saw snow (possibly in Orange and maybe Katoomba according to BoM records from Blair Trewin) - Zero degrees or below as a minimum was reached on 35 days. Lowest maximum was 1C on 26th of June. Lowest minimum was -4C on 27th of June. Yearly rainfall = 1481.5mm. SOI in July = -8.
1984: Snowed on three days. On the 4th of July there was a 25cm fall. Zero degrees or below as a minimum on 13 days. Lowest maximum was 0C on the 3rd of July. Lowest minimum was -3C on the 4th of July. Yearly rainfall = 1525mm. SOI in July = 2.
1985: Snowed on seven days. Zero degrees or below as a minimum on 26 days. Lowest maximum was 3C on the 18th of July. Lowest minimum was -3C on the 18th of July. Yearly rainfall = 1174mm. SOI in July = -2.
1986: Snowed on four days. Settled on 3rd and 9th of July, 20th of June and 19th of November - settled well in Blackheath on this day. Zero degrees or below as a minimum on twenty two days. Lowest maximum was 0C on 9th of July. Lowest minimum was -4C on 21st of June. Yearly rainfall = 1647mm. SOI in July = 10.
1987: Snowed on five days, settled on four. Zero degrees or below as a minimum on twenty one days. Lowest maximum was 1C on 22nd of July. Lowest minimum was -3C on 13th of July. Yearly rainfall = 1390mm. SOI in July = -19.
1988: Snowed on four days, settled on one. Zero degrees or below as a minimum on fifteen days. Lowest maximum was 3C on the 6th of August. Lowest minimum of -1C. Yearly rainfall = 1743mm. SOI in July = 11.
1989: Snowed on ten days, settled on three. Zero degrees or below as a minimum on thirty seven days. Lowest maximum of 2C on the 24th of July. Lowest minimum of -2C on six days in July. Yearly rainfall = 1438mm. SOI in July = 9.
1990: Snowed on eleven days, settled on five. Zero degrees or below as a minimum on twenty seven days. Lowest maximum of 1C on the 6th of July. Lowest minimum of -3C on the 26th of August. Yearly rainfall = 1661mm. SOI in July = 6.
1991: Snowed on five days settled on four: 1cm on 13th of July, 1cm on 12th of August. 3cm on 24th of August, 2cm on 31st of August. Zero degrees or below as a minimum on seventeen days. Lowest maximum was 3C on the 24th of August. Lowest minimum was -3C on 27th of July. Yaerly rainfall = 1151mm. SOI in July = -2.
1992: Snowed on six days settled on one, to a depth of 1cm on 13th of August. Zero degrees or below as a minimum on forty days. Lowest maximum was 3C on the 24th of August. Lowest minimum was -2C on five days. Yearly rainfall = 1409mm. SOI in July = -7.
1993: Snowed on two days, settled on one. 1cm on the 12th of June. Zero degrees or below as a minimum on twenty five days. Lowest maximum of 3C on the 12th of June. Yearly rainfall = 804mm. SOI in July = -11.
1994: Snowed on three days with dusting only on July 31st. 27th of September saw snow showers and October 8th saw settling to 1cm. Zero degrees or below as a minimum on forty five days. -3C on six days, -4C on three days. Lowest maximum was 3C on the 31st of July. Yearly rainfall = 735mm. SOI in July = -18.
1995: Snowed on two days, settled on 17th of June. Zero degrees or below as a minimum on twenty one days. Lowest maximum of 4C on 22nd of June. Lowest minimum of -5C on September the 6th. A frost occured on the 17th of December with a temp range of 2C to 17C. Yearly rainfall = 1331mm. SOI in July = 4.
1996: Snowed on four days, settled on the 19th of August to 5cm. 22nd of November was the latest snow this winter according to Blair Trewin from the BoM although this may have been in Orange only. Zero degrees or below as a minimum on thirty seven days. Lowest maximum of 3C on the 19th of August. Lowest minimum of -4C on the 9th of August. Yearly rainfall = 1333mm. SOI in July = 7.
1997: Snow dusting only on three days: 13/7, 9/8, 24/8. Zero degrees or below as a minimum on forty nine days. Lowest maximum of 3C on the 13th of July. Yearly rainfall = 869mm. SOI in July = -9.
1998: Snowed on two days, settled on 28th of July (5cm). Zero degrees or below as a minimum on thirty four days. Lowest maximum of 2C on 23rd and 24th of June. Lowest minimum was -3C on July 10th. Yearly rainfall = 1403mm. SOI in July = 12.
See the usual links on the main page for more recent activity and photos. Any more records of snowfalls? Your contributions would be most welcome. Please email me from the address on the main page.
