More snow on the way to NSW & VIC resorts!
By Pete ‘The Frog’ Taylor – snowatch.com.au
The rollercoaster ride of Season 2016 in Australia hits a low point this week after the polar blast and dump of snow we saw in the mountains last week. Weekend sunshine and light winds saw the best conditions of the season over the weekend as thousands headed to the NSW and Victorian resorts.
This week we have already seen showers and temps well above average in the resorts. Perisher and Mt Buller have had 21mm of rain already with more to come, mostly on Thursday and Friday. This will cause a bit of snow melt especially on the lower slopes.
The Good News
From here things start to turn positive again with the showers turning to snow later on Friday as cold front arrives in the mountains. We should see snow falling Friday night and most of Saturday before easing on Sunday. Snow is likely down to around 1200m over these days and we should see around 15-25cm in the resorts which should replenish what was lost during the week. The snow guns should also be able to fire from Saturday morning as the cooler air passes through and continue over the weekend.
The good news doesn’t end there as another cold front, a slightly stronger one, arrives on Monday. Snow should start to fall early on Monday and increase later in the day and then ease later on Tuesday morning. Another 15-30cm is possible over these two days.
This should see the snow depth increase substantially and I’d expect the Spencer’s Creek reading used by Perisher, Thredbo and Charlotte Pass to be around the 1.5m mark with Falls Creek and Hotham up around 1m by the end of the month.
Looking long range August is shaping up well, as expected earlier in the year. I can see three snow bearing systems arriving in just the first two weeks. The way things are looking it could really be an ‘Epic August’.
1-7 day snow forecast Australia
