Stanthorpe, Wallangarra, Goondiwindi record snow as big freeze continues across state

Three border communities in Southern Queensland have seen snow overnight as the state continues to shiver through a brutal cold snap.

Snow has been seen across the border around Southern Queensland as a brutal polar cold snap continues to grip the state.

Stanthorpe, Wallangarra and Goondiwindi in the state’s south recorded snow in recent days as Antarctic air flows through the entire state, causing temperatures to plummet.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicted the cold snap would likely last until Wednesday, however, there has been no such reprieve for residents feeling the cold.

The blast of polar air which has been persisting for days has seen snow recorded in places across Southern Queensland, caused by the favourable conditions in the atmosphere.

Stanthorpe Holiday Park at Severnlea was able to record the moment a flurry of snow fell in the Granite Belt on Wednesday night. (Photo: Stanthorpe Holiday Park/ Facebook)

Severnlea’s Stanthorpe Holiday Park said they saw a small burst of snow shortly on Wednesday evening.

Amanda Magrin at the Country Style Holiday Park said the parks’s accommodation was close to booked out, which was common for the winter as the region sees a major boost in tourism.

“We’ve had a few inquiries about wanting accommodation just to come see the snow and I’ve had to break the bad news,” Ms Magrin said.

Ms Magrin said while walking around the site she saw a small flurry of snow at the park yesterday, however not the substantial amount tourists might be chasing.

“We’ve had a few people stay overnight as a pit stop before going down to Guyra where it is actively snowing more,” she said.

At Goondiwindi on Thursday morning, residents saw snowflakes fall, which residents noted only lasted for five minutes.

In the Southern Downs, Spicers Peak Lodge at Maryvale saw snowfall in the middle of the day, which the staff say hasn’t been seen for about a decade.

Spicers Peak Lodge general manager Erin couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw the swirl of snow just after 11am on Tuesday.

“We had guests and staff come out to see what was going on, it was very exciting,” she said.

“The weather has been on and off all afternoon with cloud cover and it looked like we might get more this afternoon, but sadly that hasn’t happened.”

Subzero temperatures are being recorded from the southern Darling Downs to Far North Queensland. Picture: weatherwatch.net.au

Erin said the first thing she did was check the current temperature, surprised to find out it was a crisp 7C at the time.

Across the Downs Thursday morning, Toowoomba got down to a low of 4.5C, Stanthorpe and Warwick saw 3C, while Goondiwindi plummeted to 5C.

Overnight, unexpected places including Atherton in Far North Queensland recorded brutal temperatures of “around 0”, a temperature colder than Melbourne. 

Residents in the Darling Downs and Granite Belt on Thursday can expect cloudy weather to persist, with a medium chance of showers in the south and “the slight chance of isolated snow flurries on the Granite Belt during the early morning.”

Originally published as Stanthorpe, Wallangarra, Goondiwindi record snow as big freeze continues across state