Several towns in eastern Australia were blanketed with their thickest snowfall in decades over the weekend as wild weather caused widespread disruption.
The severe conditions brought heavy snow, flooding, power outages, and stranded vehicles across parts of New South Wales and Queensland.
Meteorologist Miriam Bradbury from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said up to 40 cm of snow fell in parts of northern New South Wales — the most since the mid-1980s.
In a rare occurrence, snow also settled in parts of Queensland for the first time in 10 years.
Bradbury noted that while such weather events have historical precedent, the extent and intensity of this snowfall were highly unusual.
“What makes this event unusual is not just how much snow we had, but how widespread it was, covering a large part of the northern tablelands,” she said.
The New South Wales State Emergency Service responded to over 1,455 incidents, including flood rescues, damaged buildings, and more than 100 stranded vehicles.
Several major flood warnings were issued as heavy rain hit other regions of the state.
Tens of thousands of homes were left without power overnight, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
New South Wales Police reported that a woman in her 20s was swept away after a vehicle became trapped in floodwaters on Saturday night, and a search was still ongoing on Sunday.
