Parts of Tasmania and the Australian alps received a dusting of summer snow on the weekend. Cold air surging across southeastern Australia behind a pair of fronts produced wintry scenes in the mountains. Temperatures dipped to -1.5C at Mount Hotham, -1.4C at Thredbo Top Station and 0C at Mount Wellington, allowing snow to settle in three states. It's not unusual to see snow falling in Australia during summer, although only a few fronts per season are capable of turning rain drops into snowflakes. Hobart residents were able to enjoy a white Christmas in 2006 by taking a short drive up to the top of Mount Wellington, where the mercury dipped to a low of -1.8C degrees. On average, Australia's highest weather station (Thredbo Top Station) experiences temperatures at or below 0C seven times during summer. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Australia during summer was -7C degrees, which occurred at Charlotte Pass in December 1999 and Thredbo Top Station in February 1979. If you were in the mountains of southeastern Australia over the weekend and were caught out by the nippy weather, this might make you feel a bit better. Parts of Russia experienced temperatures down to -59C on Sunday. The world record for lowest temperature was -89.2C at Vostok Station in Antarctica during July 1983.