Cabramurra

Cabramurra was the third-highest permanently inhabited town on the Australian continent, situated at 1, 488 metres (4, 882 ft) in the western Snowy Mountains of the Great Dividing Range, in the state of New South Wales.

Cabramurra was the third-highest permanently inhabited town on the Australian continent, situated at 1,488 metres (4,882 ft) in the western Snowy Mountains of the Great Dividing Range, in the state of New South Wales. It is 82 metres (269 ft) lower than Dinner Plain in Victoria, and 272 metres (892 ft) lower than Charlotte Pass Village in New South Wales. The last residents are scheduled to leave the town in January 2018 with the current workforce housed being replaced with drive-in/drive-out staff. The name Cabramurra may be derived from Wiradjuri gambirra marra ("crooked hand").

Cabramurra was established in 1954 using prefabricated houses, as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme and associated Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. An earlier surveying camp had been established there in 1951. The town was moved some 500m and 20m vertically to a more sheltered position, its current site, in 1974, leaving the original site as the lookout. The original houses were either demolished or relocated to Talbingo, Adaminaby and Jindabyne. The new houses were built with Besser blocks to a design specifically tailored to the environment. Long steep roofs allow snow to slide off, and the interiors are designed around a central heater (originally fuelled by oil) which warms all rooms in the house either directly or indirectly (chimney passes between upstairs bedrooms). All power and phone lines are routed underground.

In early January 2020 the town was damaged by fire during the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season. In the town itself a "significant number" of houses and buildings were lost, plus the school and old ski club.

Cabramurra has a subalpine climate (IBRA 1,400–1,800 m) with cool summers and cold, very snowy winters. In terms of precipitation, Cabramurra is a very wet climate during the cooler months, but still retains significant sunshine hours due to its summer dry-season. Under the Köppen classification, the town has a cold oceanic climate (Cfb).

Owing to the town's position, perched over the western escarpment of the ranges, temperature inversion does not occur as the coldest air drains into the valleys and plains; thereby giving Cabramurra much warmer minimum temperatures than surrounding areas of its altitude and latitude, such as nearby Kiandra. Instead of radiational cooling, Cabramurra receives its coldest temperatures solely via cold-pooling (caused by its persistent winter snowpack). The town is usually snow-bound from June to September, as it lay well above the snow line. Cabramurra receives an average of 53.2 snowy days annually.