Snow, Baseball-Sized Hail & 104F Temps Hit Queensland Simultaneously - Oz Weather Weirding Out - AFP

[hatrack]

Wild and weird weather has hit Australia, with a combination of drought, storms, bushfires, snow and record low temperatures baffling a population usually heading for the beach at this time of year.

Icy winds shrieking up from the South Pole had Sydney residents shivering on the way to work Thursday as the country's most populous city recorded its coldest overnight November temperature in more than a century. The mercury dropped to just 8.3 degrees Celsius, the lowest since November 1905. But with the wind-chill factor "I think the temperature was around two degrees", said Bureau of Meteorology weatherman Rob Webb.

EDIT

To the north, in Queensland, storms carrying hail the size of cricket balls tore off roofs, smashed cars and brought down trees and powerlines, plunging more than 30,000 homes into darkness. And in what forecasters called a once in 50 years phenomenon, snow fell in the state's southern Granite Belt area Thursday morning, while in the state's far north temperatures hit 40 degrees.

Dry winds fanned a bushfire on the Sunshine Coast, forcing occupants of a retirement home to flee the flames on their walking frames, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Parts of Australia are in the grip of the worst drought for more than a century, bringing fears of climate change to the forefront of political debate well before this week's climatic oddities.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/2006/061116091311.k1ca262f.html

[warrens]

1. Isn't John Howard one of those climate-change deniers ?

He's a wingnut in the Cheney mold. This must be doing wonders for his credibility. It's the Australians own fault for reelecting the asshole. Well, the Australian neanderthals, anyway.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Do they get tornadoes down there?