The bumper start to the Australian snow season has continued, with perfect conditions and “bluebird days” at resorts this weekend and more snow forecast for the alps in the coming week.
Early snowfall has already seen decades-long records broken across Victoria and New South Wales, where resorts at Mt Buller, Thredbo and Perisher were able to open well before the official start to the snow season on the June long weekend.
The early dumps were followed by clear and cloudless skies this weekend, resulting in “bluebird days” – the ideal combination of sunny conditions and fresh snow – across the alps.
The cold start to #winter makes days like today a real treat. Clear skies and good #snow cover across the #Vic and #NSW Alps - a bluebird day ⛷️☀️
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) June 18, 2022
Further snow on Tue, with flurries all next week ❄️
Latest Alpine forecasts: https://t.co/7dSzGcgCnC
📸@fallsaustralia pic.twitter.com/FtCIpvibG2
The weather continues to provide welcome relief to ski resorts, which were battered by pandemic restrictions across the past two snow seasons, severely limiting attendance and forcing some closures.
At Perisher and Thredbo, more snow is forecast for Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Mt Buller and Mt Hotham are forecast for snowfall every day from Tuesday to Sunday.
The only resort not to open is Mt Selwyn, which was destroyed in the Black Summer bushfires. Selwyn was expected to reopen this season, but this has been delayed due to the heavy snowfall, which affected electrical systems.
The Selwyn Snow Resort general manager, Lucy Blyton, told News Corp the delay was a “cruel irony”.
“Our resort was wiped out by bushfire, and now we can’t open because of too much snow,” she said.
“The cruel irony of it all.”
Last weekend, Mt Buller recorded a snow depth of 76cm, a 44-year record for Queen’s birthday weekends. Falls Creek recorded a snow depth of 92cm and Mt Hotham recorded 82cm on the same weekend.
Speaking last weekend after a 125cm dumping of early season snowfall, the Thredbo marketing manager, Caroline Brauer, said the “snow cover was as good as it gets”.
“After the challenges of the past two years, this is exactly the way we wanted to welcome everyone back to the resort,” she said.
“The strong start to the season is just what the resort, community and snow industry needed. The smiles on all the faces of our guests and staff are a testament to just how overdue a season like this has been.”
