By I. Hansana, Jadetimes News
Christmas in July has finally arrived for ski resorts this weekend as the first widespread snowfall of the season blankets parts of Australia’s south east, delivering more than 50cm of snow to popular tourist destinations.
David Clark, destination marketing manager for Mt Buller and Mt Stirling ski lifts, noted the continuous snowfall, stating, “It’s been brilliant, it started snowing on Friday night and hasn’t stopped. Now’s the time to come it’s the best conditions we’ve seen so far.” The resort town received 22cm of snow on Saturday morning, with an additional 15cm accumulating throughout the day, and more forecasted.
“It was a slow start in June but it’s such a relief to have these big snowfalls and proper cold fronts coming through, setting us up for the rest of the season,” Clark added. “We’re guaranteed to have snow now through October.” Mount Hotham recorded 31cm of snow in the 24 hours leading to Saturday morning, reaching full capacity and closing to day visitors. Thredbo in the north was blanketed with 27cm of snow overnight, bringing its seven day total to 43cm.
“The entire mountain and village have been covered in a thick blanket of fresh white snow, creating magical wintry scenes,” a spokesperson said. “The snowstorm rolled in yesterday evening, bringing heavy snowfall, blizzard conditions, and strong winds. Experts forecast that this low pressure system could bring another 50cm over the next 10 days.”
Nearby, Perisher received 25cm of snow overnight, with a further 80cm forecast on Saturday. Freezing temperatures were recorded as low as 800m, according to Weatherzone. A Vail Resorts spokesperson said the swiftly moving cold front was expected to bring the “most significant snowfall of the year.”
Falls Creek in north east Victoria experienced a massive 45cm of snowfall in just 24 hours, including 33cm on Friday evening. Its seven day total exceeded 70cm. Sarah Watt, head of marketing and visitor experience at Falls Creek Alpine Resort, mentioned that car parking capacity had been increased this season but urged guests to pre book to avoid disappointment as spaces filled quickly during big storms.
The cold front moving through South Australia into Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland brought rain, record low temperatures, snow, and blizzard conditions, with more expected. Forecasters from Mountain Watch anticipated 82cm of snow over the next seven days, while Snowatch predicted 78cm over the next fortnight.
Angus Hines from the Bureau of Meteorology described the weather as a “very wintry outbreak” across the south east, due to snowfall and wind. “There’s been another good top up [of snow]. given they had a nice dump three or four days ago,” he said. Hines reported about 30cm of snow in higher parts of mountains in Victoria and New South Wales on Friday evening, with an additional 20cm expected over the next day, bringing peak depths to half a metre.
Though there hadn’t been snow reaching low levels as seen last week in various NSW locations up to the Queensland border, low lying communities in northern Victoria and southern New South Wales, including the tablelands, might receive some snowfall in the coming days. This weather came amid widespread damaging wind warnings across Australia, stretching from southern South Australia through exposed parts of Victoria and alpine and eastern NSW.
A severe weather warning was in place for Sydney due to strengthening winds, which brought blizzard like conditions to snowy areas. At Mt Buller, gusts of up to 100km/h were reported on the upper mountain overnight, calming into Saturday.
Hines noted that some areas in Queensland had record low temperatures overnight, with Winton at 0.6°C on Saturday morning, a 22 year record, and Longreach at 0.7°C, the coldest in three years.
The cold front was expected to pass over the next two to three days, but with wind chill, temperatures were anticipated to “feel cooler than it looks.”
Meanwhile, Clark enjoyed watching excited children learning to ski in Mt Buller’s “magic forest” in “super thick fresh powder snow” on Saturday. “It’s a great vibe, they were all doing it with smiles and loving it,” he said. “We’ve got eight lifts operating and just announced we’re opening another three tomorrow, which is great news. I’m just looking forward to seeing skiers and snowboarders back on the slopes.”
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