Weather News

Snow worries

Guy Dixon, Wednesday August 10, 2016 - 12:37 AEST

Australia's fickle snow season is living up to its reputation this week, but there is hope in sight for those planning a trip to the snow.

The week started out on a positive note as a cold front brought snow to the Stirling Range in Western Australia. Bluff Knoll received a 15 minute flurry late on Monday allowing hikers to enjoy a rare WA snowball fight.

The front then pushed across South Australia on Tuesday and while it didn't bring any snow, blustery showers and isolated thunderstorms lashed the state. Strathalbyn registered a wind gust of 95km/h in the afternoon and Adelaide Airport got up to 76km/h.

Unfortunately this front didn't prove to be valuable for the alps. A high pressure system anchored over New Zealand prevented the cold air from reaching the ski slopes, causing rain to soften snow across most resorts last night. The passage of the front also generated wind gusts up to 122km/h at Thredbo, Australia's highest automatic weather station.

If you have a trip to the snow planned in the second half of the week there is good news, as more fronts will bring fresh snow across the alpine region in coming days.

The first front will cross tonight bringing around 5-10cm of fresh powder to the peaks and valleys. The second front is due on Saturday morning and looks like it will add another few centimetres of fresh snow.

A large high pressure system will move into NSW behind these fronts bringing pleasant conditions over the weekend. Sunday is looking like a good day to hit the slopes.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2016

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