By Miles Peachfield

This report is a work in progress and I will be adding more info, videos and images as time permits :)

On a Bureau of Meteorology Facebook page entitled "Rare October snowfall in South Australia" by Bureau of Meteorology on Thursday, October 11, 2012 at 2:55pm. They say:

"Snow in South Australia is a rare event, but snow in October is even rarer! Following a cold front on Wednesday 10 October, a very cold air-mass moved across the Mt Lofty Ranges and into the southern Flinders during Thursday. The air was so cold that snow fell on higher ground. We've had reports of snowfalls from: Mt Bryan/Hallett which were quite widespread and produced a layer on the ground; Mt Remarkable/Melrose area; and around Adelaide at Mt Lofty and Belair.

South Australian snowfall events in October happen few and far between. The last one was reported in the Quorn area in 1995, and the time before that was around Adelaide in 1910. The last time snow was reported in South Australia was on 22 August earlier this year at Mt Lofty, where some light falls were experienced."

HERE ARE LINKS TO SA TELEVISION NEWS REPORTS OF THE EVENT FROM CHANNELS 7, 9, 10 AND THE ABC.

7 News : "Cameraman's Cut - Snow falling at Mt Lofty"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D25leYnXBRs

Channel 9 "SPRING SNOW - 11/10/12"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsyi0IwaV7Y&list=UUhAumjy26uts_hvywCSdgvQ&index=4&feature=plcp&noredirect=1

Channel 10 "Spring snow"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2aDkhWclPV8#!

Another Ten News report "Bitten by the cold" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I-WKUPPgCM&feature=related

ABC "Once-in-century October snow across SA"
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-11/snow-falls-across-sa/4306702?§ion=news

7 News : "Snow blankets Mt Lofty"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D663Xzj-Zwo

The Australian - a news item with several photos: "Snow at Mt Lofty, but worst is behind us" by: Ben Hyde and Michael Milnes From: AdelaideNow October 11, 2012 5:00PM
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/snow-at-mt-lofty-more-wild-weather-coming/story-e6frg6n6-1226493307107

AdelaideNow website: "When snow fell on the Hills" - a photo gallery of 22 photos from Mt Lofty and the Mid-North http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/photo-galleries/gallery-e6frecgc-1226493600356

HERE ARE LINKS TO SOME GOOD VIDEOS TAKEN BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC, BOTH LOCAL RESIDENTS IN THE HILLS AND VISTORS FROM FURTHER ABROAD, AND POSTED ONTO YOUTUBE

Where a video has been posted onto YouTube I have given a link to it there. And where I have the original video or a copy of it I've uploaded a copy onto this website loftysnow.com and given a link to it below, so you can if you wish watch the original video in your favorite player (unaltered by YouTube processing). Clicking on a link to the original video may open it in your default player or you may need to save it first.

First, local resident Phil Storer (aka 339airborne on YouTube) takes a drive in the falling snow on Mt Lofty. It's very smooth for a driving video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJUPlKpPgwU

The original video file (ie unprocessed by YouTube) which Phil kindly sent me is here http://loftysnow.com/11Oct2012public/Phil-Storer-vehicle-1.mp4

Next is a lovely video of snow falling in Crafers, taken by Ann Donald http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cUEx1DrSIU

Now to "Snow at Mt Lofty " posted onto YouTube by LivingstoneSJAM, showing two young children playing in falling snow on the Mt Lofty summit, and through-the-windscreen footage of driving through light snow. I suggest starting your viewing at about the 30 second mark http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb6Ogw0FJg0

At Forest Range, little girl Hannah and a chook venture forth into the falling snow while Mum Eva films - a charming video and a good record of the snow at her locality :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2plH-RbdrIU&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Another lovely video of falling snow, this time at Thorngrove Manor Stirling among beautiful scenery, was posted onto YouTube by "Thorngrovesnow" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1QZucwMKM4 Use fullscreen for best viewing. If that link fails at some time in the future, try this one: http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012YT/Thorngrove-Stirling.avi

In the early hours of 11th several people were parked near the television towers at various times. Here are the videos three of them took of falling snow. The only sources of lighting bright enough to light the falling snow sufficient to be captured on video were a very bright street light and their car headlights.

The only person who was there early enough to record the first snow shower (as far as we know) was Mark Dawson, and his video recording the event is here on YouTube "Snow at Mount Lofty October 11 2012" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMxNc1e03WM

Chris Handler was also there early and he made this video. The original video is over 3 minutes long so I've made this copy showing only the last approx half a minute which shows the heaviest and most photogenic snow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMxNc1e03WM

I arrived about 3am and this is my attempt to film the falling snow using the street light http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asBIPkDcls0

Below are links to my seven best videos taken during two snow showers on the morning of 11th October 2012 on the summit of Mt Lofty. Clicking on any link should open the file in your favorite video player, or if it doesn't open automatically then just save the file to your computer so you can play it in one of your video players. There are three versions of each file: the original .mov files straight from the cameras, the original files converted to .avi files, and the original files converted to .flv files. This is probably "too much info" for most readers, but it will enable you to choose a file type and quality most suited to your computer.

The first two of the seven videos are taken from the open observation area looking towards some of the onlookers on the veranda. A feature of the second video is a small child about ?three years old who comes out and does a snow dance :)

The next five videos were taken from the southern and northern edges of the observation area looking at the falling snow seen against backdrops of darker native vegetation.

First, links to the seven original .mov Quicktime files straight from the camera, and their megabyte content and duration:

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012orig/old054.mov 12 mb 9 secs

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012orig/old056.mov 17 mb 12 secs

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012orig/053.mov 17mb 15 secs

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012orig/054.mov 19 mb 15 secs

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012orig/056.mov 16 mb 13 secs

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012orig/old047.mov 25 mb 20 secs

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012orig/old046.mov 27 mb 21 secs

Now links to the same 7 videos converted to .avi files (same lengths as the originals and about a third of the megabyte contents):

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012avi/old054.avi

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012avi/old056.avi

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012avi/053.avi

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012avi/054.avi

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012avi/056.avi

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012avi/old047.avi

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012avi/old046.avi

Now links to the same 7 videos converted to .flv files (same lengths as the originals and about a quarter of the byte contents of the originals):

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012flv/old054.flv

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012flv/old056.flv

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012flv/053.flv

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012flv/054.flv

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012flv/056.flv

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012flv/old047.flv

http://loftysnow.com/11thOct2012flv/old046.flv

Copyright conditions for all videos and photos posted here by Miles Peachfield only (not for any of the other contributors). These videos were filmed by Miles Peachfield during snow showers on the summit of Mt Lofty on the morning of 11th October 2012. Anyone is free to use these videos for any positive purpose without permission, and the only requirement is that Miles Peachfield is acknowledged as the author. For all videos and photos posted by other contributors on or relating to this 11th October snow event, the usual copyright conditions for videos and photos posted onto the internet apply.


THERE'S A BUCKLAND PARK RADAR LOOP for about 1030am Thursday 10th to about 630pm Friday 11th here http://theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR643-adelaide-buckland-park/2012-10-10-00/2012-10-11-10 - the source is The Weather Chaser website http://www.theweatherchaser.com. Times shown for the radar images in the loop are UTC = GMT so you need to add ten and a half hours to the times to get South Australian local daylight saving time.

Here are links to five Bureau of Meteorology mean sea level pressure charts from 1030am South Australian daylight saving time to 1030am 11th October 2012 (SA is 10 and a half hours ahead of UTC=GMT time during daylight saving time):

http://loftysnow.com/mslp-charts/1030am10thOct2012.gif

http://loftysnow.com/mslp-charts/1030am11thOct2012.gif

http://loftysnow.com/mslp-charts/1030pm10thOct2012.gif

http://loftysnow.com/mslp-charts/430am11thOct2012.gif

http://loftysnow.com/mslp-charts/430pm10thOct2012.gif

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