It was joy last Wednesday morning when everyone woke up to five to ten centimetres of fresh snow at Perisher Blue. Cold weather has in the village has kept the snow around in the village (which sits at 1,720 metres) and down to as low as 1200 metres, which has transforming the landscape to a white winter wonderland.
Overnight temperatures of around -5C have frozen the ground allowing the snow to settle and accumulate. The Bureau of Meteorology was predicting scattered snow showers to continue, contracting to 1600 metres through Thursday.
Coupled with positive long-range weather forecasts, the overnight snowfall has buoyed hopes of a bumper season on the way. Australia’s long-range weather forecaster John Moore has recently released his predictions suggesting a solid start to 2008, followed by consistent snowfall throughout winter.
Moore’s forecasting has already accurately predicted the light snowfall received at Perisher Blue in late February. Following this, Moore has also predicted this early April snowfall that is expected to freeze the ground. A heavy dump in May is expected to kick-start the season’s opening in early June.
Average snowfalls during June and July and then above average falls in August should then see the season in good shape through to October, with average snowfalls predicted for September and October.
According to Neil Thew, Public Relations and Business Development Manager for Perisher Blue,
It appears that John Moore’s forecasting has been spot-on to date. If he continues to be this accurate we look forward to having a great season in 2008.”
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