By Callum Ludwig
While wild winds wreaked havoc on Sunday 30 October, it also led to some late snow on Mt Donna Buang.
The summit has two centimetres of snow cover as we entered November, with a potential 10cm to fall throughout the first day of the new month.
Owner of the Mountain Tucker food van Joe Buckley said we could also expect a bit more snow later in the month.
“We are experiencing a lot wetter season than normal, which can tend to make the days a bit warmer but I think we can expect at least another snow day. This one should last until tomorrow before it is washed away,” he said.
“Weather wise at the moment, it is quite good, and there isn’t too much rainfall at the moment. “The actual physical conditions of the mountain are really quite messy though, there’s a lot of evidence of the storms, there are two major trees down that reduced the road to one lane and smaller trees and branches on that lane.”
In the past two years, a spot of late November snow hasn’t been uncommon on Mt Donna Buang with reports of snow around the middle of the month the final falls of each year.
Mr Buckley said he will tend to have his truck on the mountain when there is snow.
“It’s a nice place to visit but otherwise there’s not enough people for me to serve my coffees up there and the Redwood Forest is closed [to vehicles], which is my usual haunt.
“I’ve now been operating out of the Maroondah Reservoir, after a bit of negotiation with Parks Victoria and have traditioned to the new area for a short period.”
The snow level starts at around the 10-mile car park and chains should be carried, it is four-wheel drive access only beyond the Healesville turn-off.
There is currently no traffic control around the closed lanes on Donna Buang Road.
Mr Buckley advised visitors to be careful when traversing the mountain.
“It’s just a reminder to be patient because of the amount of disruption to the town and the environment just getting here with the Warburton Highway down to one lane,” he said.
“We’ve seen a large amount of rain which has softened the soil, so we have a lot more trees down than normal. There’s not a huge amount of wind up on the summit at the moment, but the trees are just falling over with the amount of waterlogging in the earth.”
