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Located on the southeast of Australia, Melbourne is bordered by Quaternary lava flows in the west, Silurian mudstone in the east, and Holocene sand accumulation in the southeast along Port Philip. A view of the Melbourne Map makes the position clear. Melbourne experiences a temperate climate. Melbourne weather is noted for its changeable weather conditions. There is a popular phrase for the climate in Melbourne, “four seasons in one day”. This is due to the topography and the location of the city. Melbourne has a flat topography, which is surrounded by Port Phillip and Dandenong Ranges. The consequence of this culmination is the formation of a weather system that often circles the bay. Compared to weather in Australia in general, Melbourne is colder in winter. Snowfall is very rare in the city. Melbourne saw its last major snowfall in 1951 with both the Central Business District or CBD and the suburbs being fairly covered with snow. The coldest day on record was when it witnessed a temperature drop of 4.4 degrees Celsius. It happened on 4th July, 1901. Mount Dandenong in the suburbs records snowfall almost every couple of winters. With the exception of 2003 this area has recorded snowfall every year since 2001. Melbourne, the city, is more familiar to frosts and fogs than snowfall in winter. Melbourne weather is mild, characterized by clear skies in spring for a prolonged period. But in summers the temperature is high. It even crosses 40 degrees Celsius. By and large Melbourne has hot and dry summers.
Melbourne witnessed one of the worst years in 2006. This year recorded one of the worst droughts in the history of the country and the weather in Melbourne was no exception. One of the driest years, the country almost had no rainfall. Even September and October were left dry even though in these two months the country experiences maximum rainfall, and as a result the temperature was also higher than usual.
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