Benjamin Wright enjoys the snow at Mount Buninyong on Saturday morning. PICTURE: RAY WRIGHT
Ballarat residents, many still in their pyjamas, flocked to a snow-blanketed Mount Buninyong on Saturday morning as flurries fell across the region.
A cold front over the state caused snow falls down to 550 metres and a white start to grand final day around Ballarat, Daylesford and Trentham.
Ballarat toddler Elsa Volz visited Mount Buninyong at 8.30am and had her first encounter with snow.
“She was standing there looking like ‘Oh my god, what’s happening? This is so weird’ – then she was playing in it,” her mother Renae Volz said.
“It was a winter wonderland up there.”
Weatherzone meteorologist Rob Sharpe said Ballarat managed double figures with a top of 10 degrees on Saturday but it was just seven degrees for most of the day.
“At times in the cold wind it felt as cold as minus two – that was around lunchtime,” he said.
“It is unusual for this time of year to have snow down to that height.
“It was quite a strong cold front.”
Mount Helen resident Gareth Smith said he noticed a light fluttering of snow over his house at 7am.
It wasn’t settling on the ground so he took sons Rhys, 8, and Drew, 6, to Mount Buninyong to try their luck.
“It looked great – it was very white coverage from the top of the car park to the bottom of the mountain,” he said,
“(The boys) thought it was fantastic. They wanted to stay up there and make snowballs.”
Also enjoying the spectacle were Ballarat resident Jodie Cartledge and her son Jacob, 11.
“Jacob loved it. He was rolling it into balls and throwing it,” she said.
“I don’t think he’s seen snow like that before.
“He didn’t even want to leave.”
While some residents were clearly enjoying the snow, for those ready to shake off the wintry conditions, some welcome relief is in sight.
The temperature will gradually increase until it hits a predicted 24 degrees on Thursday, according to Weatherzone.
Mr Sharpe said another front would then come in, dropping temperatures to 12 degrees on Saturday.
rachel.afflick@thecourier.com.au
