Ice rainbow captured in Hobart and stunning winter in Central Highlands

The wintry weather is putting on a delightful show across Tasmania, with one Tasmanian even spotting something he believes is rarer than an aurora. See the stunning pics.

Marieville Esplanade Sandy Bay with a rarely spotted ice rainbow. Picture: Daniel Bar-Ness

A Tasmanian “rainbow spotter” captured a rare wintry sight this week, a different kind of “double rainbow”, which he believes is rarer than an aurora.

Rainbow chaser Daniel Bar-Ness thought he was lucky to spot an “ice rainbow” at Marieville Esplanade on Wednesday, only to be delighted by the spectacle again on Thursday morning.

“I’m a pretty keen rainbow spotter, this one was very special … I think it was ice crystals in the air,” he said.

“It was in the same place as a normal rainbow, opposite the sun and it was fainter than normal.

“The colours were very faint compared to normal rainbows

“I’d say it’s rarer than the aurora, I’ve never seen anything quite like that.”

Another image of an Icebow taken from Tranmere, by Scott Glynn. Picture: Scott Glynn

The cold weather was also a treat for a Tasmanian photographer, who captured stunning images of glistening frost and ice across the coldest town in Tasmania, as temperatures plummeted overnight.

Stunning images of a wintry Central Highlands. Image: Gill Dayton/ Tassie Apple Spice photography.

Notoriously nippy small town, Liawenee dropped down to -13.5°C overnight, but when the mercury reached -3°C, photographer and former police officer Gill Dayton thought it was “almost T-shirt weather”.

“It’s quite bearable,” she said.

“When I jumped in the car it was still -8°C at 10.30 in the morning but by the time it got to -3°C I was thinking ‘it’s starting to get bloody hot, it’s almost T-shirt weather’.”

Stunning images of a wintry Central Highlands. Image: Gill Dayton/ Tassie Apple Spice photography.

The lover of cold weather is a regular winter visitor to Liawenee.

“I love the cold, I’m an ex police officer of 32 years with PTSD, so I come up here for the remoteness and being away from people,” she said.

Ms Dayton says the cold was perfect for her photography.

“It just totally transforms the landscape and the scenery,” she said.

“It is just absolutely gorgeous because it’s a hoar frost. A hoar frost will occur when it’s clear skies which we’ve had up here, beautiful clearly night skies, and then the frost clings to all the surfaces, the tree branches, the grass, everything.”

Stunning images of a wintry Central Highlands. Image: Gill Dayton/ Tassie Apple Spice photography.

Ms Dayton went to Miena on Tuesday to get a coffee but was in for a surprise.

“They were saying they couldn’t make coffee because the water pipes had frozen and burst and both the shop and the pub were shut because of that,” she said.

Stunning images of a wintry Central Highlands. Image: Gill Dayton/ Tassie Apple Spice photography.

Bureau of Meteorology community information officer Brooke Pagel said Liawenee wasn’t the only town which recorded icy temperatures overnight.

“Other notable observations include Cressy at Brumby’s creek with -5.5°C, Fingal in the North East with -4.4°C and the Launceston Airport recording -3.7°C,” she said.

“The cause of the cool temperatures and frosty mornings is due to a very cold and dry air mass, combined with clear skies and calm winds, beneath the strengthening high pressure system, causing those temperatures to plummet across southern Australia, throughout the week.”

Originally published as Ice rainbow captured in Hobart and stunning winter in Central Highlands