Hobartians are enjoying a stunning display of snow on kunanyi/Mount Wellington after snowfalls lowered to 700 metres overnight, with the white powder forecast to keep falling in the coming days.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) predicted snowfalls in the state's south to 300 metres this afternoon, with accompanying freezing temperatures.
At 3.30pm, Hobart was enduring 5.2 degrees Celsius, with the temperature on the summit of Mt Wellington a frosty minus 4.4.
BOM meteorologist Michael Conway said the cold south-westerly flow that dominated last night would cool further and allow that low snowfall by late afternoon.
"Anywhere with elevation it [snow] is possible — higher than Fern Tree, up Mount Wellington for instance," he said.
"It's going to be widespread."
For the suburbs of Hobart, flurries were predicted, but would likely be short-lasting.
The BOM said temperatures over the next few days would be lower than average for this time of year.
"We're looking at maximum temperatures in the south for 9 or 10 degrees [Celsius] for most spots, so that's quite unusual for so early in winter," Mr Conway said.
Ski season looking to open a month early
Snow also made itself known in the state's north, with the road to Dove Lake at Cradle Mountain shut and the operators at the Ben Lomond ski field scrambling to try and get the mountain open for business a month ahead of schedule.
Heavy snowfalls have blanketed the mountain in up to 40 centimetres of snow, which could increase, with more forecast in the coming days.
Ben Lomond Alpine Resort managing director Ben Mock said the conditions caught him by surprise.
He said there was enough snow for the season to get underway.
"We're just formalising getting our lifts operating as quickly as possible," he said.
"This amount of snow came very quickly and we were a little bit unprepared but we're just organising staff and a few other things.
"As soon as we are able to open, we will make a formal announcement very soon."
Mr Mock said he was hopeful his team could get the field ready nearly a month ahead of schedule.
"But we've got to obviously finish greasing a few wheels on the lift, putting up T-bars, pomas, those type of things, and just general maintenance and we have to get that done," he said.
Snow has closed a number of roads in the state's north and west coast.
Information about current road closures can be found on the Tasmania Police website.
A list of up to date weather warnings can be found on the Bureau Of Meteorology website.
Snowy conditions set stick around for the week
The snowy weather is hanging around during the week too — there will be snowfalls to 500 metres on Wednesday and 600m on Thursday.
"It's a pretty continuous south-westerly breeze that's going to blow over the state for at least four days," Mr Conway said.
"At this stage it looks like we could get a strong cold front coming through on Saturday. It's very uncertain, but we may be getting some good snow with that as well," he said.
The long weather event is being caused by a high over the bight that is very stationary and a low over the south-east of Tasmania, combining and bringing up cold air from far south, near the Antarctic continent.
Fortunately, it is not a sign of more to come. The BOM has not seen any strong signs it will be a particularly cold winter this year.
"It's just one of those things that happens sometimes. You get all the factors lining up and you get many days of south-westerly winds giving you low snow levels."
