Tasmania is no stranger to the wonders of cold weather and snow.

But in the winter of 1986 the snow came down as if it was never going to stop. By the time it did stop the city of Hobart (and much of the state) had come to a complete standstill. Students across the city celebrated the fact they got a day off school whilst anyone reliant on public transport (or any form of transport for that matter) also felt relief at getting a surprise long weekend.

By 9am on Friday July 25th 1986 the snow in Hobart was 8 centimetres deep.

Hobart was effectively cut off from the rest of the world until noon with most roads in the city closed for the day

Dr Stefan Petrow, from the Department of History and Classics at the University of Tasmania was not a resident in the state at the time but is fascinated with the many extreme weather events Tasmanians have endured over the years.

"It was unexpected and we weren't prepared. Every time it happens we start again and we're not ready to put into place certain ways of operating - be it getting to school or getting to work" said Dr Petrow.

"Snow above nine hundred metres is fairly common but when it comes down to sea level - that is relatively rare"

Dr Petrow said the earliest written record of a major cold snap goes back to 1837 when a severe frost killed large sections of eucalypt forest near Bronte in the Central Highlands.

It is thought a similar frost occurred in the same area in 1836 but records on the event are sketchy.

Believe it or not, the snow also played a part in the decline of the Tasmanian Tiger.

One of the heaviest snowfalls of the last 100 years occurred in the winter of 1938. This was at a time when the Tasmanian Tiger was at its most vulnerable. Due to the icy nature of the snowfall in many parts of the state the animal would have found difficulty locating its den and digging into it - a problem now faced by the Tasmanian Devil whose numbers are also dwindling.

Some stories handed down from the 1946 snowfall claim that the snow was as deep as twenty-two feet in places around the state. It is due to deep snowfalls that hunters in Tasmania designed their huts with a door that opened inwards so they would not be trapped in the event of a major snow fall.

The snow-fall of 1946 was said to be so deep in certain parts of the state that stories abound of skiers still being able to ski as late as the February of 1947.

In 1951 two heavy snowfalls were recorded within the space of two weeks. Roads around the state were blocked and even the mail service was interrupted.