Great Lake Hotel enjoys summer snow falls

It’s snowing in parts of Tasmania while firefighters battle blazes elsewhere. Read about Tasmania’s fickle summer weather.

Summer snow at Great Lake Hotel

As bushfires still rage on the West Coast, snow has been falling in other parts of the state.

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Matthew Thomas said there had been slow flurries reported at Todd’s Corner on the eastern plateau and the temperature there would be close to zero.

Summer snow at Great Lake Hotel, in Tasmania's Central Highlands. Picture: Great Lake Hotel

He said the temperature on Mt Wellington was 1C and snow was likely at 1200m.

“It will be colder later this afternoon so more snow is likely,” Mr Thomas said.

The Great Lake Hotel at Miena in the Central Highlands also reported snow as cooler temperatures descended on the state.

Hotel owner James Johns said the snow began falling mid morning on Saturday.

“It was lovely,” he said.

“They were big snowflakes too but the ground was too hot for them to settle.

Lake Hotel Managing Director James Johns. Picture: Chris Kidd

“When the temperatures are in the 20s and early 30s it still, hot and horrible here.

“It offers us some relief from the potential fire threat and more rain is forecast tonight.”

Mr Johns said it was not uncommon for snow to fall in summer.

“We’ve had snow here in January,” he said.

In a social media pots the hotel said: “Today we were gifted with great big snowflakes, cooler conditions and an excellent reason to light our big fires.”

Some welcomed the chance to put the heater on and the stark changes in temperatures from the sweltering 30C plus on Wednesday and Thursday.

Ben Lomond also reported snow falls.

Fires on the West Coast have raged for over a week, burning more than 93,000ha.

Despite easing weather conditions, authorities expect the blazes to continue to burn for weeks.

Originally published as Great Lake Hotel enjoys summer snow falls