A White Christmas for Australia?

“It is now the third day of Summer in Australia. Here in Melbourne, it is bitterly cold and they say we could be headed for a White Christmas.”

Melbourne is on the cusp of the coldest December day since 2006 – less than two weeks after boiling through the equal-hottest November day this century.

The city is forecast for only 15 on Monday, as a series of cold fronts continue to push frigid air from the Southern Ocean.

If the forecast pans out, it’ll be the coldest December day since Christmas Day in 2006, when it peaked at 14.5 degrees and actually snowed.

The unseasonal chill has brought significant dumps of snow across the Victorian Alps and falls as low as Mount William in the Grampians.

Snow resorts are reporting heavy dumps over the weekend. At Mount Hotham, there were 25 cm on the ground on Monday morning, with more snow expected throughout the day. Falls Creek recorded up to 20 cm and Mount Buller saw 18.

“It’s not a December record but there are certainly temperatures well below average,” said Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Michael Efron.