A persistent cold front and sub-zero temperatures brought a rarely-seen fall of snow to the ACT on Friday - except few Canberrans could agree whether or not it was falling.
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Social media was lit up with speculation about snow in the ACT on Friday afternoon, with residents of Florey, Gungahlin, Lyneham and O'Connor among those who said they had seen falls.
Ngunnawal resident Suzzi Hartley, who posted a video to Instagram showing snow falling in her backyard, said it had been gusting outside her house for short time during the afternoon.
"There were big flakes hitting the windows," she said. "It was coming in gushes, so when the wind came it would be quite thick. It would bring a big gust of it through - It was so cool."
One Canberran, in an effort to put an end to the speculation, said he and others would sign a statutory declaration stating they had seen snow fall at the Weston Creek Bowling Club.
Meteorologist Guy Dixon said snow had fallen in the centre of Canberra as temperatures in the city dropped to less than three degrees apparent temperature, making Friday the coldest August day for the territory in four years.
He said the freezing weather was the result of a strong cold front which had moved across south-eastern Australia this week.
"This one was probably equal to the strongest we've seen this season. It was quite strong, rigorous and also quite prolonged. This one was felt more significantly about the mainland of Australia," he said.
But, Mr Dixon said, snow was no longer on the horizon for the ACT, including in the surrounding areas, as a warm front moved through from Saturday.
"A high-pressure ridge will build and that will dominate over the next week. That'll allow winds to slow down, temperatures to build but the nights will get very cold. We've got minus-four early Sunday morning," he said.
Mr Dixon said that while there were "bluebird" days on the horizon for the region's snow resorts, there would be no snow in Corin Forest for at least the next week.
Friday's weather was a stark contrast to Thursday which was the warmest July day since 2009 with temperatures hitting a top of 17 degrees, well above the July average of 11.5 degrees.
Due to the poor weather conditions, a number of rural ACT roads were closed on Friday including the dirt road sections of Brindabella Road and Corin Road beyond Woods Reserve except to four-wheel drives.
Bendora Dam Road and Orroral Ridge Road were also closed.
Meanwhile, snow covered large parts of Victoria on Friday with Ballarat, Kinglake, Mount Macedon and the beachfront town of Lorne experiencing heavy falls.
Meteorologists said it was the most widespread snowfall in 25 years and the coldest August day in Victoria for almost six years.