Australia Daily Snow
By Mike O'Connor, Meteorologist Posted 1 year ago June 11, 2024
Storm Leaves a Dump of Snow & Cold Temperatures for over a Week
Summary
After a nice dump of snow on Tuesday into early Wednesday, temperatures will remain nice and cold for the rest of the week as south-to-southeast winds continuously blow over the Australian Alps. With additional snowmaking, we'll see a significant improvement across all resorts with more terrain opening up.
Short Term Forecast
Current Conditions and Forecast for Wednesday (12th June)
After an initial period of rain on Tuesday, a storm front brought snow to the upper levels of the Australian Alps to an altitude of around 1700m (Australian resorts mostly sit somewhere between 1400m to 2000m altitude). It was a very welcome sight after many resorts opened during the weekend on limited areas of man-made snow.
The snow has continued to fall up high overnight Tuesday, and snow levels are expected to drop to or below the base level of resorts around dawn on Wednesday, covering Australian resorts from top to bottom. At the time of writing, reports haven't come in yet. But after snow showers ease later on Wednesday morning, we could be looking at 25-35cm above about 1700m and 5-10cm below that.
Clouds will begin to part Wednesday afternoon as strong southwest winds start to ease, although Mt Baw Baw will see light snow showers through to the end of the day. Cold temperatures will also allow resorts to continue making snow.
Forecast for Thursday to Sunday (13th to 16h June)
The forecast for Thursday to Sunday is a fairly straightforward one, as a cold and light south-to-southeast flow continuously blows over the Australian Alps. This will keep temperatures nice and cold, allowing resorts to continue pumping out man-made snow and opening up more terrain.
For the most part, the days will be fine and sunny, but low-level cloud may push into the resorts, mostly likely early mornings and late afternoon, limiting visibility at times. A few snow showers may also make it onto some resorts Friday night, and southerly winds will be more brisk on Sunday.
Extended Forecast
It will remain nice and cold in the Australian Alps for much of the following week, starting Monday 17th June, which should have the snow guns firing for long periods. Some light snow showers are possible before cold SW winds ease around Wednesday 19th June.
Forecast models suggest we'll see a decent snowstorm sometime between Thursday 20th and Monday 24th of June. So watch this space.
Thanks for reading. I'll keep these forecasts coming every Monday, Wednesday & Friday throughout the southern hemisphere season.
Michael O'Connor
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