It started to snow heavily on Thursday night and Friday morning and continued through the weekend. The winds were gale force up top maxing out at 140km/h at the top of Thredbo on Thursday night. It was a blizzard not seen in June for some time.

From Thursday through to Monday we saw around 80-90cm fall at the major resorts of Falls Creek, Hotham, Perisher and Thredbo with Mt Buller and Selwyn a nudge over 50cm and Baw Baw just under that. All resorts now have a solid base that should last for some time, even if we weren’t to get natural snow for a while (which shouldn’t be the case). Cold temps have also allowed the snow makers to get into full swing with extended periods with the guns firing added to the great early season cover.

This week should see the sun poke it’s head out and resort staff out preparing more slopes to open as the week progresses. By weekend they will be well and truly up and running. Perisher announced today they will have 32 lifts operating for Saturday including Mt Perisher, Guthega and Blue Cow. Hotham opened up Heavenly today and it truly did look like heaven (once old mate dug out the chair, as spotted on the cams this morning).

With cool temps this week the snow will stay in excellent condition and the guns will fire overnight.

There is more snow coming next week so it’s more good news, and remember Snowatch now has daily 15 day forecasts for each resort and a general long range forecast.

The Snowatch forecasts are done manually by Pete (The Frog), human forecasts for humans. The only thing that is automated from the BOM is the temp data. Everything else is done from experience over the last 20 years of following the snow, hard work and instinct. All the text for each day, the sun, snow, cloud, rain icons are carefully selected, the wind direction, the predicted snow depth and likelihood of snow making added and the satellite images with comments are all created by The Frog to hopefully give you as easy snapshot of what’s to come.

Forecasts you see on other sites are computer automated and rely on algorithms to choose when and how much snow we will get, so you will pretty much see them all say the same thing. If you want it real where you can actually ask questions or for thoughts on coming systems or snow trips you were thinking of booking then Snowatch is the place to head to. Beware imitations – there is only one Frog.

snowatch.com.au

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By Pete Taylor
Snow Forecastor & Owner
snowatch.com.au

With little to no natural snow in the resorts it will be touch and go for some to get a lift or two running for opening weekend. So what’s the likelihood of resorts have a run or two going?

Here is how I see it:

There will be some snowmaking opportunities over the next week which will help but there is also a large moisture band due to arrive in the mountains on Friday that could really put a dampener on the opening weekend festivities. There is also a ‘but’ with that. The system ‘could’ also drop some white flakes. The snow line looks to be marginal at the moment and if it shifts one degree less we may get 5-10cm, but if it goes the other way and sits around 2C then we are in for a wet weekend and it will cause damage to the already thin man made cover.

Perisher

If anything will be open it’s definitely Perisher with their extensive snowmaking capabilities on Front Valley and even up to mid station. They always seem to get the guns firing before everyone else and stack up whales of snow at the bottom, then get the groomers spread it out prior to opening. The current cover is thin but building all the time and will no doubt they will be open for business come next Saturday.

Thredbo

Looks to be struggling at the moment and will need a huge snowmaking effort over the coming week to open anything. They will do their best to get Friday Flat and the Merritt’s areas open but I think it’s long odds at the moment. Best they could hope for is a strip on Friday Flat.

Charlotte Pass

Opens mid June so no news there.

Selwyn Snow Resort

Being the lowest of the NSW resorts Selwyn struggles to make snow as often as the higher resorts due to marginal temps. I thought their savour would be the ‘snow factory’ technology they bought last season (which is the same as Mt Buller and Baw Baw have), but I have been informed by the resort that it was sent back as “it didn’t suit their needs”. That seems a bit odd as the snow factory is the sole reason that both Buller and Baw Baw will be able to have slopes open next weekend. Selwyn is at long odds to have New Chum running as the showers on Friday will damage the thin cover.

Mt Buller

Now with the ‘Snow Factory’ technology Buller has been stockpiling snow for the last month. This snow will be spread out by the grooming team over the coming days and along with snowmaking adding to it we should see enough of a cover to have Bourke Street open next weekend.

Falls Creek

With limited opportunities to fire up the snow guns over the last week or two Falls is struggling with a very thin cover. They would have been hoping to have at least Towers and maybe Wombat’s Ramble open, but it will take a big snowmaking effort for that to happen, and with the showers forecast for Friday it will be a step back. If we get lucky with snow falling on Friday night and into Saturday, then possibly we could see something open but don’t hold your breathe.

Hotham

Hotham finds itself pretty much in the same predicament as Falls Creek. They haven’t been able to make a lot of snow so far. They will be doing their best to get Big D and The Summit open, and it could be possible with a big week of snowmaking. If we can add some natural snow it may help but the likely early showers on Friday will not help at all. Probably unlikely to have lifts running just yet.

Baw Baw

Like Buller they have invested in the Snow Factory technology and have been stockpiling snow for some time. They should be able to spread that out enough to have a run open, and enough snow for those wanting to have a play. Well done Snow Factory, because without it Baw Baw could not open (and maybe not for a while yet).

Even is the lifts aren’t spinning at your favourite resort the opening weekend has always been the party weekend and the big resorts all have a variety of festivities that you can enjoy, just jump onto their website or facebook pages for details.

Keep an eye on the Snowatch forecasts over the coming days to see what eventuates with the front due late next week.

Pete

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