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UPDATE: Tuesday 7pm
I’m not sure it’s quite time to cash in the ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card just yet, but a day that had rain written all over it has turned into one that wasn’t so damaging to the snow cover. It wouldn’t have been much fun if up on the hill however.
It snowed in the morning, then rained for a bit, but turned back to wet snow for much of the afternoon and evening, resulting in a nett gain. BOM AWS is showing the temperature rising however so we will see what the next phase of this system delivers – which looks to be close to arriving on the radar
UPDATE: Tuesday 1pm:
The optimist in me suggests that things are actually looking better than they could have. Snowfalls this morning, with a couple of forum members reporting in from Hotham suggesting 10cm had fallen, followed by rain and now a sleety mix. I had today pegged for steady rain so we’re not faring too badly.
Jane’s Weather has updated the situation, and very wisely decided to not speculate on snow amounts, due to the complication of factors that are affecting this system.
I think it’s going to be a case of waiting until Thursday, seeing what has transpired and making plans based on that.
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It’s been a gratifying start to this morning with some unexpected snow falling (as reported by members of the ski.com.au forums) but with the current setup I’m still nervous and unsure if it will last the day. Keep an eye on the Village Square cam throughout the day.
We’re again in a situation where we’re relying on cold air from a low pressure system to mate up with tropical moisture being pulled down from the North. As always, these can really deliver serious snow, but more often than not go terribly pear-shaped. Have a look at Jane’s Weather for her take on the situation. (She usually updates her site at around 10am)
Weatherzone is particularly optimistic in calling for between 30-60cm out of this storm, and the BOM is qualifying their forecasts with snow levels of 1600m – 1300m.
So it’s a bit of ‘suck it and see’ with this system. We’re becoming accustomed to pre-frontal rain this year, it would be great if it could be avoided but time will tell. It will eventually get cold, but whether the moisture is still around at that time remains to be seen.
A nett gain from this sytem will be welcomed, as 30cm of fresh during the week would get most areas open in Victoria, and make for a great weekend.
I’ll update this as I hear from the hills.