Frequent low pressure systems hit the west coast causing heavy rain, snow, and ice.

Memorial plaques to recent lost sailors on the wall at the northern edge of the Strahan wharf illustrate this.

In addition to closures of air and marine service, the roads to the west coast may be blocked for days at a time by ice and snow during severe winter conditions.

The consequence of the isolation, and the ways that the communities coped with the difficulties, were little examined prior to the 1990s, except for parts of Tim Bowden's 1979 Radio Documentary "The West Coasters", and various references in Geoffrey Blainey's "The Peaks of Lyell" book and the important works of C.J.

[5] Since the rise of tourism on the west coast, the Franklin Dam issue and the creation of the world heritage wilderness area, a steady number of small publications concerning the history and features of the region have been produced.

For a brief time in the early 20th century the west coast had population and political power on a parity with Hobart and Launceston.

Following the demise of most of the Zeehan mines, the west coast population has either remained static, or declined relative to other parts of the island.

The vast tracts of forest (Huon Pine, among others) in the west coast region have been subject to fire, and exploitation - as well as significant areas now under conservation.

Some examples of collections: Due to the rise of tourism in the 1990s, a considerable number of DVDs and videos are commercially available of the region.

Additionally, tourists and hikers have gathered a considerable record of the region, which regularly appears in either their own or on generally accessible websites on the Internet.

At Queenstown the Lyell Highway changes from A10 to B24 and runs south and west to Strahan, following part of the southern boundary of the locality.