Observations Observations. 21st September -27th September
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Join the conversation with a better online communityObservations from Hotham/Dinner Plain Saturday 25th
At Dinner Plain (1580m), the first light snow flurry came in and settled around 7:30pm Thursday evening but otherwise the snow didn't really start till well after midnight. By 9am Friday most of the snow fall was finished. There was a solid 10cm on the ground in Dinner Plain but temp by 9-10am was only just around freezing.
In Mt Hotham, around midday with temp -2 I measured just on 20cm in Slatey Cutting car park (1640m), which seemed to have held snow better and be more repsentative than most areas close to the road through the resort proper. Skiing on the Brabralung trail away from the resort, 15cm was about the best you could measure. Yes I took my ruler skiing
. There were also some genuine snowflakes in the mix early afternoon - I've seen that before from near these low centres.
While I'm sure there are some good drifts, and perhaps exposed western side of range got a little more, I would say 15-20cm was a fair summary of snow depth received. There were a couple of centimetres more snowfall during the afternoon but snow pack was consolidating faster than it was falling so total depth measured was actually less. But you could say accumulated snowfall may have peaked over 20cm in favourable areas. EC forecasts via Jane/YR were therefore pretty close, so too was 50th percentile BoM forecast (Hotham forecast from Wed and Thu was for 15-35mm). BoM snow level forecasts were more realistic today (seemed fair bit too optimistic on Mon/Tue).
I was surprised to receive messages from Creswick and Ballarat reporting snowfall there around 1-2pm. Airmass definitely didn't feel that cold here at that time. Coldest September day in Ballarat since 1969 according to BoM via ABC.
At the end of the day around 5pm, I drove a little down the Hotham rd towards Bright, in foul road and weather conditions, including fittings chains to 4WD. Heavy snow cover on ground and vegetation and plenty across road all the way down to Dungeys Hollow at 1450m and no sign of it ending anytime soon. Interestingly the car said temp remained -3 all the way from near Hotham summit despite dropping 400m (it was fairly breezy so I don't think inversion could explain that). Official Hotham obs were heading towards -5 around the same time but still seemed a little unusual. Was the colder air mass pushing lower elevations harder first?
-3 at Dinner Plain at 6pm, but snow cover thinned out steadily to the east, with just last little dregs on the ground by Hotham Airport (1300m) but snow flurries in the air and temp -1 (matching official obs). Precipitation really dies off quickly east of Hotham so lack of snow beyond that more due to lack of precipitation rather than temperature having been too high.
Photos show a pretty awesome turn-around in conditions at Dinner Plain in 24 hours from Thu to Fri morning. Great to be able to get a last taste of winter!
Great report - any journalism opportunities?
Cant imagine this is common, a friends place outside Melbourne, probably wondering WTF
Haha, she takes crazy cat lady to the next level. Heaps of photos of her menagerie experiencing snow, but the camels were my favourite. Has an animal rescue farm going.Cant imagine this is common, a friends place outside Melbourne, probably wondering WTF
Well it can snow in the Middle East / Nth Africa - occasionally. You’d hope they don’t already have their summer coats?
Absolutely agree, was thinking the same thing!
Transition from lush green to pure white is just magical
Settled snow at Lake Eucy, better than anything else all winter there:
Light snow showers at Hampton this morning, a lit bit of settling overnight.
Here at my place in Orange we have woken to a light covering of snow on rooftops, lawns and cars. Snow has been falling intermittently for the last few hours but seems to have stoped now .
Blanket of snow settled on the ground in Narby. They haven't yet closed the Maroondah Hwy, but it too has dark tyre marks in its white surface. At least this time it hasn't brought a tree down on my house, but it's done something to (moved slightly?) the satellite dish so I get no TVSnow in Crookwell but melting quick. Will take a drive out soon and get some pics
In the last hour Orange has had a heavy fall of snow . Settled on the street at the height of it.
A cm or two in my backyard now. Stopped for now .... but that’s what I said last time !
Live traffic has a general warning for roads in Orange & district for snow & ice.
Spoke too soon. Snow falling heavy again ... big flakes.
Perisher reporting 40cm storm total.
Not bhed
Snow/sago flurry in Leura just now. Started settling on the doormat.
Must be time for a walk.Very light sleet / snow mix falling in Blackheath. Easing off now.
From Day to Day NSW thread...
Light flurries on and off all morning in Blackheath.
Stopped now. Suns out but windy.
Here’s a picture looking west towards Hampton/OP...
Reports of around 5cm out that way.
Still cool and very lightly snowing at hoth, Sun starting to have an impact. Imagine and black snake require commitment and prayers sharks don't bite too hard. Deep snow but obviously baseless making for difficult skiing
Central Asia , from The headwaters of The Indus to The Amu Darya , The Stans and as far as Mongolia, they all have camels and snow and sand. It is an extreme climate.
Victorian snow cameras are looking good with only @hongomania getting some fresh tracks , the lucky b*rstard!
26.9.20
Baw Baw
Whiskey Flat
( Hotham to Dinner Plain XC ski trail)
The Falls Creek Table o Meter looking magnifico!
Game on at TBJ / ski patrol car park at Mt. Stirling at 1270 M.
Full cover at Lake Mtn.
The Rover Chalet ski tow on the Bogong High Plains.
We Melbournians simply hope and pray that 2021 will be a year in which some spring XC skiing will be possible when it snows like this.
:-((
Went for a snow chase to Billapaloola State Forest @ Wee Jasper this morning (970 m AMSL), as the radar showed the heaviest falls along the Brindabella's western slopes for much of last evening…and my judgement was correct. Strikingly deep snow for this time of year!
Back at Maragle, the snow wasn't nearly as deep, but it's still only 0° C @ noon/midday.Last edited:
Naah, you can see it on the snow stake time lapse - easy 40cm, probably more
And the only resort true to the end and picking up the scraps
No 40 not 20 for the whole event , not as much as first thought
By Wednesday night it will all look pretty sad again , spring is coming back
That’s a fair summation IMO. Having been out each day and observing accumulations around the mountain I would suggest 40cms to be conservative.
Areas of Mt P that were done for 2020 have been resurrected with enough new snow to get through the weekend and into next week before the next weather change. T Bars generally thought to be finished with safety pads removed etc were kicked back into action this morning.
At the top of Mt P and out towards Charlottes (general direction) my stock easily pushed into the snow and penetrated to leave much less than 50% of the stock above the snow. Sastrugi was developing on the ridgeline.
The snow was heavy and any other time of the ski season calls of great base builder would abound.......
Some more obs. Still minus 2 up top and snowing in the sun. Back in dp now and blue skies. A fantastic weather event, like mid winter but without the harshness
Beautiful weather conditions on the mountain. Relatively light winds and snow falling and a bit of sun made for some great late sep winter vibes. Slalom gully the pick, less rock and able to get some turns in. Summit was nice for those alpine feels. Elsewhere was too much snow on no base, thankfully got away with a couple of lightish scratches on the waybacks - they deserve some special end of season love at base n edge
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Some fun in the brimbellis!
I’d say 5-10cm in places and 15-20cm in drifts
The slicks on the car held well surprisingly on the dirt road which was snow covered about down to 800m. In the trees till around 700m
A fun day!
Brindies are lovely today. SummitTrack to Mt Coree was quite a challenge. . Some more pics.
Definitely decent accumulation at Perisher. At 1800m in the trees I measured 40cm, higher around 2000m in the open 50cm, but harder to get a good spot to measure. There are some big drifts as well. For those that know Perisher, this drift is one of many that formed at the top of vista run next to the snow fence. A few days ago this was bare heath. Where my stock is, the heath is just poking through on the lee side of the drift
Todays weather really was perfect spring conditions. Like a truce had been drawn in a battle between white and green season. It was cold yet warm; snowing and sunny; windy but calm - all at the same time
Would be good if they pushed a groomer through but doubt that will happen! Cold in Jindy showing about 4 deg on out thermo. Looking forward to Eyre tomorrow and look looks to be snowing.Definitely decent accumulation at Perisher. At 1800m in the trees I measured 40cm, higher around 2000m in the open 50cm, but harder to get a good spot to measure. There are some big drifts as well. For those that know Perisher, this drift is one of many that formed at the top of vista run next to the snow fence. A few days ago this was bare heath. Where my stock is, the heath is just poking through on the lee side of the drift
Good one! Nice looking snow and turns!
A fun way to end ‘winter’ such as it was?
It was ever thusAnd the only resort true to the end and picking up the scraps
It was ever thus
and the scraps are pretty good Another 5cm or so overnight. Currently snowing lightly at Perisher this morning
