The ski season is off to a great start, as a cold snap this week will send temperatures plummeting across south-east Australia.


Tasmania is already shivering after wild winds left almost 9000 homes without power yesterday, but Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Rachel McInerney told the Mercury conditions would begin to ease today as the Antarctic blast passed over the state on the way to the mainland.

Victoria will endure one of the coldest June days in nearly 20 years today and the state as well as its northern neighbour are forecast to experience strong winds, thunder, hail and highland snowfalls.

A blanketing of snow is expected on the Dandenongs and Macedon Ranges, and Ballarat locals could wake to white tomorrow and Thursday.

In NSW and Victoria snow should settle above 700m, with a chance of it reaching down to 500-600m, low enough to affect the Dendenong Ranges.

"The cold outbreak will develop on Tuesday as a front moves across Tasmania, South Australia and Victoria," Tom Saunders, meteorologist at The Weather Channel told the Daily Telegraph.

"The cold air will reach New South Wales on Wednesday, plunging the entire south-east of the country into a spell of wintry weather set to last until at least the weekend,"

All of this is very good news for snow bunnies as the first weekend of the seas approaches.

Victoria's Mt Buller is expecting temperatures of -3 to -6 degrees C.

"We're very excited," Mt Buller's Gillian Dobson said.

"We are certainly optimistic we're going to be open for skiing and snowboarding this weekend."

Snow was already falling at Thredbo yesterday. Around 10cm fell in the 24 hours before Monday morning.

The resort report says there is "around 10cm of snow up top, 5cm mid-mountain and a dusting in the village.

"There is snow on Friday Flat and at the top of the chairlift for snowplay. "

There are also warnings a low-pressure system associated with the cold front should generate gale-force winds strong enough to cause damage across Tasmania, Victoria and south-east New South Wales until Thursday.

"It should start to gradually warm up over the weekend but don't expect any t-shirt weather for a while. Many parts of south-eastern Australia probably won't see another 20°C day until late August," Mr Saunders said.