A blizzard has lashed Australia's ski resorts more than a month early in welcome signs for the nation's skiers and snowboarders (pictured, Thredbo resort on Wednesday morning)
Temperatures fell to nearly 0C on Tuesday night, seeing a heavy downpour of snow to fall throughout the night through New South Wales snowy mountains.
Both Thredbo and Perisher ski resorts received a 10cm dump of snow at their village level alone, with much deeper powder at the top of the runs.
Mid-May snow dumps are rare in the region but offer a welcome sign for people hoping to get their skis on when the snow season gets going in June.
Perisher recorded 74.7mm of rain overnight Tuesday, resulting in large snowfall across the region.
'Snow can fall when the temperature is just above zero because it takes time for it to melt as it makes it through the shallow layer of warmer air,' Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino said.
Temperatures fell to near zero, but even colder weather will see massive snowfall across the NSW snowy mountains over the weekend.
Experts are predicting a strong system moving across the area over the weekend, which could result in another huge snow dump to the area.
While snowfall in May will likely have melted well before the traditional June season starts, it is a welcome sign that it may be starting earlier this year.
The Bureau of Metereology is predicting a max temperature of 2C in Perisher Valley on Friday, falling as far as -3C on Saturday and -6C on Sunday.
Only 5mm of rain is predicted but that will be enough to see more snowfall across the area, which could continue through to Tuesday with similar temperatures predicted.
Sydney will see temperatures dip below 10C over the weekend, as will Melbourne, Adelaide, and Hobart.
Canberra could see temperatures plummet as low as -4C in the CBD on Sunday as the cold front moves across the nation's capital.
Reader Comments
to our Newsletter