Fresh threat to Aussie ski season

Australia’s alpine resorts have been rejoicing as snow finally fell through the mountains this week following months of muddy and barren slopes, with images of the lack of snow going viral.

The snow that’s fallen in the past few weeks may have appeared to be “snow salvation” but it’s now looking more like false hope, according to Sky News meteorologist Rob Sharpe.

“The Alpine resorts are looking a little bit better than they were previously, but some resorts are still really struggling,” he said.

“The temperatures are gonna rise a little bit more and there‘s no more snow on the way for the next couple of days.”

The cold front on the way for the middle of the week is not the good news snow bunnies were expecting, as it’s not only bringing freezing temperatures but also rainy conditions which could wash away centimetres of snow.

“In the southeast, we‘ve got this warmer north-westerly air stream with showers developing ahead of the front, and then as the front moves through, it weakens a fair bit so it’s likely to just bring rain for the southeast primarily on Tuesday,” Mr Sharpe said.

Mr Sharpe said a “few centimetres of snow” could be expected, but that it would come with about 20mm of rain.

“That is probably a bad news cold front for the alpine resorts, probably going to go backwards again in the next seven days in terms of snow depth for the Australian alpine regions,” he said.

Meanwhile, the cold front will also bring cooler weather and rain as it rolls through southeast Australia.

VICTORIA

Victoria will see some of the worst of the cold front as Melbourne’s temperatures dip below 10 degrees later in the week.

Monday will start with a minimum of 12C and a maximum of 18C in Melbourne, with temperatures to get colder and colder until Wednesday where they could fall as low as 7C before heating up again before the weekend.

One of the coldest places in the state on Wednesday when frosty temperatures are expected will be Mount Dandenong, which is set to reach a minimum of 4C.

Showers are expected to be widespread on Tuesday as that front moves into place with up to 10mm falling across Melbourne.

NEW SOUTH WALES

Sydneysiders will not experience the same freezing temperatures as Melbourne but things will get pretty cold as the week progresses.

Monday through Wednesday will see temperatures dip as low as 10C in some parts of Sydney but the maximum temperature will float around 20C until Thursday, with Tuesday expected to be the hottest day of the week.

Meanwhile, Friday is expected to drop below 10 degrees for the CBD while the western suburbs could fall to 5 degrees.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Adelaideans are already in the grips of the cold front, with showers to increase on Monday and at least 4mm to fall across the city.

But the front is not expected to be as extreme in South Australia, with Monday bringing temperatures of between 10C and 19C on Monday before dropping to around 8C on Wednesday and Thursday.

Originally published as Rain threatens to wash away Australian snow as ski season comes to close