Alerts Issued As Cold Front Smacks Western Australia; Freezing Lows Sweep New Zealand; June Snow In Colorado; + ‘Gold Rush 2.0’ Thanks To California’s Historic Snowpack

Alerts Issued As Cold Front Smacks Western Australia

Multiple Aussie states have issued alerts for strong winds, heavy rains, and cold temperatures as a “powerful” Antarctic front traverses the southern half of the country.

A severe weather warning is in place for parts of Victoria, with days of rain forecast for New South Wales and South Australia; Perth was first to feel the brunt of the system, with the city logging record-breaking precipitation on Monday.

As for the cold, a slow moving polar front over the Victoria-South Australia border is busy delivering anomalous chills.

Today (June 6), at least 15 lowest-max temperature records were set in the Western Australia: Dwellingup and Manjimup each both struggled to a daily high of just 8C (46.4F) — new records for June in books dating back to 1959 and 1960, respectively.

Icy conditions are expected for multiple states in the coming days, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, as a “powerful” cold front moves across Western Australia and into South Australia, before then spreading to Victoria, Tasmania, and New South Wales by the end of the week.

The front will bring cloud cover, cooling, rain, storms, and strong winds, reports 9news.com.au.

Looking further ahead, another polar front is forecast to arrive next week, delivering perhaps an even colder surge of air.

Australia is cooling…


Freezing Lows Sweep New Zealand

Anomalously-cold temperatures are hitting large swathes of New Zealand this week.

Tuesday morning was another chilly –and wet– one for many Kiwis, with many regions enduring sub-zero chills (C).

As of 7AM, Lake Pukaki was the coldest spot, at -5.2C (22.6F), while neighboring Lake Tekapo dipped to -4.6C (23.7F).

Elsewhere, Queenstown got down -2.4C (27.7F); neighboring Wanaka saw -2C (28.4F).

The cold has been pervasive and widespread, leading to issues such as black ice on the New Zealand’s road network; Crown Range Rd, in particular, has been hit with some very treacherous spots.

Snow also hit the Crown Range Sunday, with over 10cm (4 inches) accumulating.

Niwa meteorologist Ben Noll said the bitterly cold weather was a sign of what was to come, in what is expected to be a very different winter to the past few: “This is very much in contrast with what we were experiencing last winter, which was frequent northerlies,” said Noll. “Whether you’re stepping outside in Northland or Southland, you’ll certainly feel that difference in the air – and that southerly wind will be biting a little bit harder.”

A forming El Nino was predicted to bring cooler, drier days this winter, with more cold southwesterly winds.


June Snow In Colorado

The calendar says summer, the hills and mountains of Colorado say winter:


Looking at the forecast, there’s a lot more AGW-dispelling, drought-busting lows and snows to come, and all.


‘Gold Rush 2.0’ Thanks To California’s Historic Snowpack

Thanks to California’s record –and seemingly endless– snow, which is sending millions of gallons of water tumbling down the state’s rivers, gold fever is once again gripping the same areas it did back in the late-1840s.

Expert metal detector Mark Dayton says this year is turning into a special one for finding gold.

“It’s the pinnacle of my metal detecting career,” he said. “It’s just something I’ve never seen in my lifetime.”

“As that snow’s melting, it’s rolling down in torrents and carving new waterways as it goes. And when it does that, it brings in all that fresh new material into the waterways and just spreads it out.”

In only four days, he said he found an ounce of gold worth around $2,000 in the mountains around El Dorado County, and he’s even been able to return to sites multiple times because the water is constantly bringing down new material.

As reported by spectrumnews1.com, third-generation hardware store owner Albert Fausel said people have been coming to his Placerville store from all over the country, trying to strike it lucky.

“People are kind of getting the bug before they even get over here,” Fausel said, who has already found an ounce himself. “Every time I hop in [a stream/riverbed] I’m like here’s a whole new uncovered bedrock spot that nobody’s got to look through. Because it had 5 feet of overburden, now it’s just down bare ground and a couple of boulders.”

The biggest and best gold nuggets haven’t even been revealed yet; they will likely appear when the waters begin to recede and detectors like Dayton and Fausel can access the rivers and creeks proper.

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