Table of Snowfall Events in South-East Queensland
                                 1878-2015


Compiled from data provided by the Bureau of Meteorology, Brisbane, newspapers, observer reports, dated
photos and Nicholas Oughton’s own records.
Compiled by Nicholas Oughton  (revision date 15 January 2016)

 

Date of fall

 Ref

        Location

                      Remarks

Sn

3 June 1878

1b

Stanthorpe

A fall of snow

Sn

29 July 1878

1

Stanthorpe and Wallangarra

Light snow falls in district

Sn

7 May 1879

2

Stanthorpe and Maryvale

Very light snow

Sn

11 July 1879

3

Southern Downs districts

Snow reported, Spring Creek, Darling Downs

Sn

12 Aug 1879

4

Stanthorpe district

Sleet and snow

Sn

3 July 1880

5

Laidley district, Toowoomba (sleet and a little snow)

Mt mistake, 2-3 ins.  On ground in sheltered areas afternoon of next day.

Sn

14 July 1880

5b

Toowoomba, Warwick (heavy fall)

Sleet and some flakes of snow at Warwick

Sn

July 1981

N

Kilarney

Falls made with snow from spouting of house

Sn

23 Sept 1881

5a

Stanthorpe

Fall of snow in the morning

Sn

27 July 1882

 

6

6a, 6b

Brisbane, Stanthorpe, Sugarloaf Toowoomba, Warwick, Clifton

Widespread snow showers. 2” reported at Clifton Plains. Falls observed in Brisbane

 

Sn

13 Aug 1983

6c

Border Districts

Sleet and snow

Sn

July 1884

N

Killarney

Heaviest fall to date fell on Thursday morning. In gullies shaded from the sun lasted till Mon am.

 

Sn

18 Jun 1885

6d

Darling Downs

2 Falls of light snow

Sn

Jun 30 1887

6c

Wallangarra

Light falls of snow

Sn

10 July 1888

6/1

Stanthorpe

Bitterly cold with snow          

Sn

14 July 1888

7

Toowoomba

Small flakes of snow falling

Sn

24 June 1889

8

Toowoomba

Signs of snow

Sn

14 July 1889

9

Warwick, Killarney

Slight falls of snow similar to 1881

Sn

July 1890

10

Wallangarra

Sleet

Sl

24 Sep 1991

10c

Border Ranges and Bonoo Boonoo

Ranges whitened for some days

Sn

23 June 1892

10d

Maryland (8 ks East of Stanthorpe)

Heavy fall of snow

July 17 1894

10b

Queensland Border

Snow (Ref heavy snow at Tenterfield on 17th)

Sn

23 July 1894

10a

Queensland Border

Snow has fallen

Sn

21,22 July 1895

11

Wallangarra, Stanthorpe district, Balandean

3” of snow on the ground

Sn

30, July 1995

11a

Stanthorpe

Snow

Sn

21-22 Jul 1896

12

Stanthorpe and Darling Downs

2” on the ground at Stanthorpe

Sn

23- 24 July 1898

13

Canbooya, Pittsworth, Cabarla,

Toowoomba, Stanthorpe. Leyburn.

Heavy snow storms for 1 hour at Cabarla, 15 mins at Pittsworth. Blizzard at Toowoomba on 23rd. Snow in Stanthorpe on the 24th.

 

Sn

13 June 1899

14

Yangan, Killarney, Wallangarra, Stanthorpe, Toowoomba.

Stanthorpe reports “fall quite as heavy as three years ago which was a record for this place”.

 

Sn

5 July 1899

14/1

South Eastern Mountains

Snow forecast

Sn

6-7 June 1900

15

Wallangarra

Snow falls and sleet over two days

Sn

20 June 1901

15a

Stanthorpe

Heavy snow on the border and Stanthorpe

Sn

27-30 July 1901

16

16a

Many districts of the Southern Downs and Granite Belt

Snow was widespread in this 4-day event during a major snow outbreak. 3” and deeper.

Sn

30 July 1905

17

Stanthorpe

Snow storm

Sn

30 Aug 1905

18

The Border (Emmaville)

Snow

Sn

15 Sep 1906

19

Near Longreach

Snow on the Bellfield ranges

Sn

23 June 1908

20

Stanthorpe, Wallangarra,

Light snow

Sn

12 Jul 1908

20a

Cambooya

Thunderstorm followed by hail and snow

Sn

20 July 1910

21

Dalveen, Cambooya, Pittsworth.

Sleet and Snow

Sn

17-8 Jun 1914

22

Southern Downs

Snow

Sn

9 June 1915

23

Dalveen

Snow followed by sleet

Sn

17-8 Jun 1916

N

Wallangarra

Sleet, Snow on Mountain tops

Sn

23 Jun 1916

23a

Wallangarra

Light snow

Sn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date of Fall

Ref

              Location

                                   Remarks

Sn

21 Jun 1917

24

Toowoomba

Snow fall for about 3 mins

Sn

9 Sep 1919

25

Southern Downs

Light snow and sleet

Sn

22 May 1921

Ph 4

Glen Aplin

Snow in front of house at Glen Aplin

Sn

30 July 1921

26a

Dalveen, Wallangarra

Sleet and snow Dalveen, Sleet Wallangarra

Sn

1922

Ph1

Amiens

Snow covered farmland (John Oxley Lib)

Sn

5 Aug 1923

27

Southern Darling Downs

Rather heavy fall of snow

Sn

10 Aug 1923

Ph 2

The Summit

Snow (Photo in BC Friday 10th Aug p 18)

Sn

1925

25 June 1925

Ph 3

27a

Stanthorpe snow

Thornton, Mt Mistake

Photo from Mt Marley looking over Stanthorpe

Snow on summit of Mt Mistake

?

Sn

1 June 1926

28

Dalveen, Wallangarra, Summit

Sleet and snow

Sn

24 July 1926

28/1

Southen Darling Downs

Snow and some sleet

Sn

27 June 1927

29

Brisbane and border districts

Snow

Sn

18 April 1928

30

Wallangarra

Light falls of sleet

Sl

15 June 1928

31

Border districts

Sleet

Sl

17 June 1928

 ?

Border districts

Sleet and snow

?

26,7,8 Jun 28

32

Stanthorpe and Border districts

Snow and sleet

Sn

25 July 1928

33

Wallangarra

Showers of sleet. Bald Rock snow capped

Sn

26 April 1929

34

Wallangarra

Light snowfalls in district

Sn

29 June 1929

34/1

Wallangarra

Heavy sleet, light snow

Sn

6-7 Jul 1929

35

Kyoomba

Heavy snow in the vicinity (3 miles from Stan)

Sn

25 Aug 1929

36

Stanthorpe

One of the heaviest falls of snow ever

Sn

11 Sept 1929

37

Wallangarra

Snow

Sn

3 Aug 1930

38

Stanthorpe

Light snow in Stanthorpe, sleet on D Downs

Sn

11 Aug 1930

39

Wallangarra

Sleet showers wallangarra snow on Mountains

Sn

6-7 July 1931

40

Wallangarra, Stanthorpe

Heavy snow. Falls on both days

Sn

17 Aug 1931

40a

Wallangarra

Snow clouds over mountains and sleet

Sl

20 June 1932

41

Wallangarra

Snow at Wallangarra and surrounding districts

Sn

27 June 1932

42

Wallangarra, Stanthorpe, Brisbane. Bunya Mts.

Sleet and snow. In Brisbane just not reaching the ground. Snow elsewhere

Sn

8 July 1932

43

Border districts

Snow. Sleet on the 7th and 9th

Sn

13 July 1932

44

Donnybrook Mountain

Snow on trees

Sn

2 Aug 1932

45

Stanthorpe and Wallangarra

Sleet

Sl

9 Aug 1932

46

Wallangarra

Sleet and snow

Sn

17 May 1933

47

Stanthorpe

Sleet

Sl

30 July 1933

48

Wallangarra

Sleet

Sl

4 Aug 1935

49

Wallangarra

Heavy snow in Mountains. Snowballing in town

Sn

16 June 1936

50

Wallangarra

Sleet

Sl

7 July 1936

51

Wallangarra

Sleet showers

Sl

6 June 1937

52

Stanthorpe

Sleet

Sl

21 June 1937

53

Stanthorpe

Clouds of fine sleet enveloped the Granite district

Sl

22 Aug 1937

54

Stanthorpe

Sleety showers

Sl

25,26 Jul  38

55

Toowoomba and D Downs

Snow and sleet

Sn

30,31 Jul 1938

56

Warwick, Wallangarra

Light snow on Paddy’s Knob, highest point on Condamine Range. Light falls of snow and sleet at night at Wallangarra, melted touching ground

 

Sn

9 Aug 1938

57

Stanthorpe

Small amount of sleet

Sl

6 June 1939

N

Wallangarra

Sleet

Sl

11 July 1939

58

Stanthorpe, Wallangarra

Sleet, but snow possible on mountains

Sn

9,10,11 Au 1939

59

Stanthorpe, Bunya Mountains

Wallangarra

Sleet and snow at Stanthorpe. 6” at Bunya Mts. Nanango residents say snow in each 2 previous years on Bunya Mts. 6” drifts at Wallangarra

 

Sn

9 June 1941

60

Wallangarra

Showers of sleet in the afternoon

Sl

1 Oct 1941

61

Stanthorpe, Wallangarra

Sleet and snow flakes. Wallangarra snow

Sn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date of Fall

Ref

              Location

                                   Remarks

Sn

21 June 1943

62

Dalveen

Sleet

Sl

25 Jun 1943

63

Wallangarra

Sleet

Sl

19 July 1945

64

Warwick

Sleet

Sl

18,19 May 46

65

Applethorpe, Summit

Snow falls for 11/2 hrs 2”on ground at Summit

Sn

20 June 1946

66

Wallangarra

Snow reported

Sn

25 Aug 1947

67

Bald Mountain

Light snow

Sn

4 June 1949

68

Stanthorpe, Wallangarra, Boonah

Dalveen

 Snow, heaviest for 20 years. (See 1929 above). Sleet at Boonah.  6 ins at Dalveen

Sn

19 July 1949

69

Springbrook, Cunningham’s Gap, Mt Tambourine, Donnybrook, Mt Mitchell

Sleet reported at Springbrook and Mt Tamborine.  Snow reported at Mt Donnybrook, Cunningham’s Gap and Mt. Mitchell

Sn

21 Jul 1951

70

Wallangarra

Sleet in morning

Sl

21 Aug 1951

71

Wallangarra, Stanthorpe, Dalveen, Amiens

Light sleet and snowfalls in the district

Sn

12 July 1953

72

Lamington Plateau

Sleet reported

Sn

16-17 Aug 53

73

Stanthorpe and district, Dalveen

Good snow cover. Sleet reported at Dalveen

Sn

7 July 1954

74

Mount Mitchell

Mt Mitchell snow capped

Sn

1 June 1956

75

Wallangarra, Eukey

Light snow reported

Sn

9 June 1956

P76

Stanthorpe district

Light snow reported but melted as hit ground

Sn

10 June 1956

P77

Bunya Mountains, Eukey

2 short falls of snow, Light falls on Bunya Mts

 

22 May 1957

P78

Stanthorpe district

Light falls of snow and sleet at Stanthorpe and Marshals crossing (8 miles SW of Stanthorpe)

Sn

4 Sep 1958

P79

Stanthorpe, Wallangarra, Dalveen, Amiens, Eukey

Light snow

Sl

21 Sept 1958

P80

Brisbane

Light snow flakes seen by 4 observers at 5.15pm:  OIC Met Office Eagle Farm at Moorooka, a New Zealand woman at Wooloowin, Bowen Hills near Cloudland and at Taringa (Screen temp at time 60 degrees F)

 

 

?

21 Sept 1958

P81

Donnybrook Mountain

Heavy falls of snow. Cover could be seen from Wallangarra

Sn

24-5 July 1959

P82

South East Districts

Snow reported in scattered areas from Biggenden to NSW border

Sn

25 July 1959

P83

Toowoomba

Snow in heart of city from 6 to 8am.  Sleet during the day

 

25 July 1959

P84

Bunya Mountains

Heavy snow on peaks, lighter falls at foot

 

25 July 1959

P85

Posiers, The Summit and Amiens districts

Snow up to 3 inches deep

 

25 July 1959

P86

Crows Nest, Anduraurba, Pechey, Glenauen, Plainly, Boonara (6 miles from Goomeri), Biggenden, Mt Walsh

Light snow

 

25 July 1959

P87

Warwick

Light snow early morning, sleet during day

 

24-5 July 1959

P88

Stanthorpe, Wallangarra

Heavy Snow

 

25 July 1959

P89

McPherson Range

Snow capped

 

25 July 1959

P90

Dalby

Sleet at 6am

 

5 July 1960

P91

Cunningham’s Gap and Bunya Mountains

Light falls

Sn

12 July 1960

P92

Sunday Creek, 25 K from Kilcoy

Evening Falls

Sn

13 July 1960

P93

Southern districts

Snow in scattered areas on 24 mile front, 150 miles of NSW border (Kingaroy to near Roma)

 

Sn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date of Fall

Ref

              Location

                                   Remarks

Sn

13 July 1960

P94

Bunya Mountains

Commenced 2am, 6 inches deep at 9am and still falling.  Reported heaviest in memory.  Snow patches on Mt Mowbullan late afternoon

 

13 July 19660

P95

Muckadilla, Yuleba, Mitchell, Cooranga North, Surat, Roma, Bell

Snow reported in districts

 

13 July 1960

P96

Darling Downs

Sleet

 

19 July 1960

 

P97

Wallangarra, Dalveen, Amiens, The Summit, Applethorpe, Mt Tully, Liston

Snowfalls reported in these Granite Belt districts

Sn

22 June 1961

 

P98

Wallangarra, Stanthorpe and neighboring districts, Bunya Mountains, Muckadilla

Light snow reported with sleet at Stanthorpe.

2 in at Wallangarra.

Sn

27 July 1961

P99

Stanthorpe

Light snow and Sleet on Granite Belt

Sn

10 Aug 1961

P100

Poziers, The Summit

Light snow

Sn

24, 25 Aug 1961

P101

Stanthorpe, Wallangarra

Sleet during the night

Sl

21,22 Aug 1962

P102

Wallangarra, Stanthorpe, Eukey, Pozieres, Thulimbah, Summit

Light snow

Sn

13, 14 June 1963

 

P103

Dalveen, Passchendale, Stanthorpe, Eukey (3 inches deep), Wallangarra, Tenterfield

Light to heavy snow. Sleet at Boonah on the 13th

Sn

12 May 1964

P104

Granite Belt

Light snow, hail and sleet, earliest on record

Sn

22,23 Jun 1965

P105

Granite Belt

Sleet and very light snow

Sn

19,20 Jul 1965

 

 

P106

Clarke Range (western Mackay), Central Highlands, northern Warrego, Maranoa, Darling Downs

Light snow falls reported over wide area extending from the Clarke Range (western Mackay), the Central Highlands, through the northern Warrego to the Maranoa and Darling Downs

Sn

19,20 Jul 1965

 

P107

Dalrymple Heights

Light snow reported northwest of Mackay. believed to be the northernmost occurrence of snow in Australia in recent times

 

13 July 1967

P107a

Girraween National Park

A covering of snow fell on this day

Sn

15 May 1968

P108

Stanthorpe

Light snow

Sn

23 July 1968

P109

Stanthorpe

Light sleet and snow

Sn

16 Aug 1968

P110

Bunya Mountains. Proston

Snow reported

Sn

21 Aug 1968

P111

Stanthorpe

Snow reported

Sn

22 Sep 1969

P112

Stanthorpe, Summit, Kilarney

Snow reported

Sn

27 June 1971

P113

Dalveen and Granite Belt

Light falls of snow

Sn

8 July 1972

P114

Stanthorpe, Wallangarra, Sumit

Snow. Sleet in Toowoomba

Sn

7, 8 Jul 1974

P115

Moorlands (East of Stanthorpe)

Snow, heaviest for some years. 2 ins Mt Tulley

Sn

10 Sep 1976

P116

Stanthorpe district

Snow fell in district

Sn

10 June 1977

P117

Mt Mowbullan

Reports of snow on Bunya Mountains

Sn

18 July 1978

Ph 5

Girraween National Park

Approx 3cms of snow shown in photos of  the Girraween area. Photos: Paul Grimshaw

Sn

21 June 1982

P119

Mt Canning, Mt Mitchell

Sleet Mt Canning. Mt Michell snow capped

Sn

3 July 1984

P120

Bellthorpe, Cunningham’s Gap

Snow reported. Rain and sleet at Upper Pilton

Sn

3 July 1984

P 120

Applethorpe, Toowoomba, Stanthorpe, Girraween National Park, Springbrook, border ranges, Wallangarra, Waranga,

Heavy snow throughout many districts in the most widespread outbreak in SE Qld. Snow observed on the top floor of Lennons Hotel in Brisbane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date of Fall

Ref

              Location

                                   Remarks

Sn

3 July 1984

 

Girraween National Park

Up to one foot of snow recorded

 

3 July 1984

 

P120

Binna Burra Lodge and ridges

Snow was reported during the afternoon at Binna Burra Lodge and on ridges near Uki (15 km southwest of Murwillumbah)

 

4 July 1984

P121

Stanthorpe, Bunya Mountains

Snow reported throughout the day

 

5 July 1984

P121

Wallangarra

9.00am snow and sleet

 

6 June 1985

P122

Eukey

Snow reported

Sn

2 Sept 1985

 

P123

Ballandean

Snow was reported from Amiens, Pozieres and Ballandean on the Granite Belt on the morning of the 2nd

Sn

18 July 1989

P124

Stanthorpe

Widely scattered light snow did not settle

Sn

9 Aug 1989

P125

Granite Belt

Wide spread light snow

Sn

20 July 1992

 

P126

Texas, Amiens, Pozieres, Eukey

Snowfalls at Texas, Amiens, Eukey on southern Granite Belt (Courier Mail 21 Jul 1992)and light snow at Pozieres (Gold Coast Bulletin)

Sn

14 July 1996

 

 

P127

Mt Tully, Mt Superbus

Snow Mt Tully (18 km west of Stanthorpe) and Mt Superbus (just east of Warwick) (Courier Mail) “First sleet and snow in Queensland’s high range country for years” (Courier Mail)

Sn

19 Aug 1996

 

P128

Granite Belt, Eukey

Snow on Granite Belt – snow melted almost as quickly as it hit the ground.  Grassier at Eukey “had snow last month too”.  (Courier Mail)

Sn

23 June 1998

P129

Eukey

Snow fell for about 2 minutes during the morning at Eukey

Sn

27 July 2000

P130

Bunya Mountains

Sleet

Sl

27 July 2000

P131

Springbrook, Mudgeraba

Very light snow melting on impact with ground

Sn

17 July 2004

P131a

Granite Belt

Sleet in the district

Sl

23 June 2005

P132

Eukey, Ballandean, Amiens

Very light snow, settled very briefly. Some sleet. Sleet reported at Wacol in Brisbane

Sn

12 Aug 2005

P133

Springbrook

Very light sleet and snow

Sn

17 Nov 2006

P134

Stanthorpe

Very light snow and sleet

Sn

8 June 2007

P135

Eukey, Wallangarra

1-2 cms of snow reported by Bob East at Eukey

Sn

28 July 2008

P136

Granite Belt district

Good light snow falls about 1-2 cms at Eukey

Sn

12 Aug 2010

P137

Applethorpe

Rain showers with sleet

Sl

5 June 2012

 

Eukey and Granite Belt

Sleet observed falling

Sl

12 June 2012

 

Eukey and Balandean,

Snow falling but not settling

Sn

25 June 2013

 

Eukey

Light dusting, but did not cover ground

Sn

29 June 2014

 

West of Stanthorpe

Flakes of snow and sleet. No settling

Sl

13 July 2015

 

Eukey

Very light dusting reported

Sn

16-17July 2015

 

Large area of Granite Belt

Heavy snow, 6-8 cms overnight

Sn

16-17July 2015

 

Toowoomba, Cunningham’s Gap,

Light snow and sleet falling but not settling

Sl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





























A special thanks to the Bureau of Meteorology, Brisbane who provided the skeleton of records used in the above table.

 

Notes on the Table

1.         This record includes reports of settling and non-settling snowfalls and sleet in South East Queensland.
These falls predominantly occurred in the Granite Belt and Southern Downs districts.  An ‘Sn’ indicates snow
and an ‘Sl’ sleet. A ‘?’ indicates that a reported fall of sleet or snow is uncorroborated by a second source.

 

2.         The references include information sources such as net-based newspaper archives, library databases and
paper-based references. An ‘N’ is used when no archive, library or paper-based account can be found to verify
a reported event, for example, a photo may have an attached date, but no text-based corroboration can be found.

 

3.         There have been 160 snow days in 137 years in Queensland giving 1.16 snow days per year.  These occurrences
range from non-settling snow showers to 4-day events with 3-12 inches on the ground.

 

4.         In general, many weather observers believe that snowfalls in South East Queensland tend to be under rather
than over reported and that this more than compensates for the occasional misreporting of an event e.g. sago
snow, sleet or hail being falsely identified as snow.

 

            In addition, when sleet is reported at centers such as Wallangarra (840 meters) or Stanthorpe (800 meters), snow
may have fallen unobserved on the surrounding mountains. For example those adjacent to the Donnybrook
State forest, which rise to 1300 meters in altitude. These areas are inaccessible and some distance from habitation.
There have been 26 sleet days in the past 137 years.

 

5.         Snow has been observed falling in Brisbane on a number of occasions most notably in 1882, 1958 and 1984. In
1898 Sleet and snow was recorded in George Street, Brisbane (23 July) according to Queensland Government’s
‘Queensland's history - 1800s’. On some occasions, it is likely that soft hail or sago falling in the Brisbane area
was mistaken for snow.



Explanation of Terms

            Snow - ice crystals, most of which are branched, sometimes star shaped. Can be from a few millimetres to
                several centimetres in size.

            Sleet - raindrops and snowflakes falling together.
            Sago snow - small ice pellets less than 5 mm in diameter resembling grains of rice. Often incorrectly referred
                to as sleet.

            Soft hail - small white opaque round or conical pellets of ice, 2 to 5 mm in diameter. Sometimes difficult to
                differentiate from sago snow, also often incorrectly referred to as sleet.

In the table above many of the “sleet” reports may have actually been sago snow or soft hail.



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