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Snow sticking around in the Alps

Ben Domensino, Thursday October 20, 2016 - 18:42 AEDT

Australia's alps will receive more late-season snow this weekend, helping to maintain the best late-season cover in over 20 years.

We have seen an impressive extension of Australia's snow season this year, with multiple cold fronts bringing repeated rounds of fresh snow in recent weeks.

October is typically the time of year when our alps experience a spring thaw and snow cover rapidly deteriorates. By late-October, the average snow depth at Spencer's Creek in New South Wales is around 70cm. This year though, we have close to double this amount still on the ground.

The snow depth measured at Spencers Creek today was a July-like 134.8cm. It has been 24 years since there was this much snow on the ground so late in October.

Warmer temperatures and rain ahead of a cold front will erode some of this snow base tomorrow, although more snow will arrive on Saturday.

A cold pool of air tracking across the nation's southeast behind the front will cause snow to fall down to about 900-1100 metres in southern New South Wales and Victoria and 700 meters in Tasmania at the start of the weekend.

There are indications that more late-snow could fall in the high mountains towards the end of next week as well.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2016

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