Great Southern to be hit with three cold fronts after light snow falls on Bluff Knoll

Wild weather will hit the Great Southern this week with three cold fronts over three days after a chilly weekend that saw a light snowfall on Bluff Knoll. A severe weather warning was in place on Monday morning for damaging winds and heavy rainfall from Geraldton to Eucla and damaging surf for most coastal areas west of Albany. Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Jessica Lingard said the start of the week would be a period of “fairly significant weather” with three consecutive cold fronts expected to hit on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. She said rainfall should ease once the initial front hits on Monday, with high winds of up to 90km/h expected to continue until late on Wednesday. Damaging surf conditions are also expected to hit the coastline with wave heights to reach 7-10m. “Each front is just going to maintain these swells and seas at a higher level than what they would normally be,” Ms Lingard said. “So until these systems have moved through, and we start to see some clearing in the weather and a little bit more sunshine, we’re really not going to see those seas and swells clearing until about Thursday.” The wild weather comes as the lowest maximum temperature in Albany for July was recorded on Saturday at 12 degrees, causing a light dusting of snow to fall on Bluff Knoll. Bremer Bay couple Jaylyne Ketteringham and James Hanna set out to hike the peak at 11.15am after hearing there was a chance of snow. They reached the peak about 1pm, and quickly decided to descend as the temperature dropped suddenly, high winds and hail hit. “Then all of a sudden as the hail calmed down, this calmer particle was falling everywhere on us,” Ms Ketteringham said. “Not enough to cover every-thing, it was a slight snow fall. “It was the most crazy weather change and temperature we have ever experienced, it was just dropping on us and my partner had it all over his hair and his jacket. “We were so stoked to see this, and I was dancing around . . . the moment of seeing it was a really amazing experience even if it was only a slight snow fall.” Ms Lingard said there was no further snowfall on Bluff Knoll expected this week. “Unfortunately, we need really cold temperatures in the atmosphere and the cold temperatures don’t reach down low enough towards the peak of Bluff Knoll, so it’s unlikely that we’ll see any snow with this system,” she said.