Snow white sights
EARLY- MORNING snow flurries surprised and delighted Victorians yesterday, but caused “treacherous” conditions in alpine regions.
Deep snow left a white blanket around Daylesford, Hepburn, Woodend, Creswick, the Dandenong Ranges and Mt Macedon.
“There have been snowfalls at fairly low levels, which is a little more unusual,” Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Dean Stewart said.
Areas as low as 400m received snow dumps on Saturday night and into yesterday morning, but only sleet was reported on the higher parts of the Otways, which have an elevation of around 500m.
Several Geelong suburbs reported hail showers yesterday.
The snowfalls come as road closure and weather warnings remain for parts of Victoria as our big chill continues to bite.
Conditions in the alpine areas were described as treacherous by VicRoads.
“Heavy snowfalls and freezing temperatures have resulted in road closures and treacherous driving conditions in our alpine areas,” it said.
“With little wind, snowladen trees are falling, blocking access.”
Victoria’s popular alpine resort of Mount Baw Baw was shut off, while dangerous black ice was detected on parts of the Calder Freeway and MacedonWoodend Rd.
Tributes flowed yesterday for the Melbourne mum tragically killed by a falling tree as her family drove to the snow in wild weather on Friday.
Angie Suryadi, from Endeavour Hills, died and her son Oliver, 4, is in a critical but stable condition in hospital.
Her husband Arnold Aditiasvara is believed to be recovering from leg surgery.
Ms Suryadi’s nephew Richard Suryadi said the “close” family was grieving.
“We’ve lost a loved one, but heaven has gained an angel,” he said.
Premier Daniel Andrews sent his “deepest sympathies” to the Suryadi family, who he said would be “doing it very tough at the moment”.
He also thanked emergencies services, which have been inundated with calls for help.
In the Geelong region, showers are expected to hang around in the coming days as the cold air mass that brought the wild weather moves away to the east.
Overnight temperature are expected to remain steady around 7C until late in the week, while daytime temperatures should slowly rise from 13C today to a high of 16C on Thursday.