Aust'n state sees bushfires, summer snow in wild weather week

Australia's extreme and erratic weather patterns have continued with the summer heat giving way to snow in the nation's most southern state Tasmania.

While state fire crews were battling 27 active bushfires, Tasmania on Tuesday experienced a dusting of snow across Hobart's Mount Wellington, known locally as kunanyi, and the Great Lakes district.

On Tuesday morning, temperatures dived below zero in areas across the state, with snow beginning to fall around 6:00 a.m. local time before it melted away.

"It covered the cars, it was enough to go 'oh, snow!'," Kaylee Hattinger at the Great Lakes Hotel told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Tuesday.

"I get really excited with snow, even in winter. But in summer it's even more special, I think," he added.

The freezing snap is being attributed to an unseasonable cold front moving across the state.

Summer snow is not unheard of in Tasmania, due to its cooler climate in comparison with mainland Australia, and the Bureau of Meterology (BoM) correctly forecasted the sprinkling for Tuesday morning.

However, the snow event managed to exceed expectations, falling below 1,100 meters.

But Tasmanians have been told that it will be the last of the snow for at least this week.

"We've seen the cold front move well away to the east now over the Tasman sea," BoM forecaster Debbie Tabor told the ABC.

"We'll see a cold day in the south today and cool in the north, a little bit different, flushing out that heat and humidity," Tabor said.

Elsewhere in the state, it is expected that many of the active fires across Tasmania could burn for months, unless a substantial dump of rain aids local firefighters.

Last year, Hobart, regarded as Australia's coldest city, experienced the hottest October on record, with more than four days in which maximum temperatures soared above 30 degrees Celsius. Endit