2016 is WA’s snowiest year, coldest since 1992: BoM
Snow fell on Bluff Knoll in WA's Great Southern in August. Photo: ABC
WA has experienced more days of snow this year than ever before, during the state’s coldest winter since 1992.
The Bureau of Meteorology said six snow events had been recorded this year so far, surpassing the previous record of five snow events set in 1968.
Regional Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) spokeswoman Michelle Dal Pozzo said cold weather conditions in the south-west this year were unusual, but not unheard of.
“It is uncommon, obviously, to get this many reports but certainly it has been colder than usual in the south west of WA,” she said.
“We have reported very cold conditions.”
Ms Dal Pozzo said information on snow events was often collected from the general public before being confirmed by meteorological officers.
But she said it was important anyone reporting a snow sighting have visual proof.
“We do like visual proof. [Social media] has been extremely important for us getting photos,” she said.
The earliest sighting of snow in WA was recorded in August 1841 by Europeans on the Gordon River near Cranbrook in the state’s south.
However, there are reports of Indigenous Australians sighting snow as early as 1824.
Ms Dal Pozzo said the bureau had reports of 113 snow events in WA since 1841, mostly around the Stirling and Porongorup Ranges in the far south of the state.
Snow generally occurs about once a year on average.
-ABC