Final forecast for 2025
Today is the final day for forecasts of Season 2025 and here is a bit of a run down on how I saw this season, posted earlier on the long range forecast page: So that should see us out for the season, one that could be seen a couple of ways. Most would probably say that it was an above average season, and I would have to agree in the most part with the official Spencers Creek reading by Snowy Hydro reaching 220cm on September 1. Perisher, Thredbo, Falls Creek and Hotham would be very happy with what we have had. We had snowfalls from the opening weekend with a blizzard hitting the resorts on the Friday before opening weekend. Lifts opened soon after and we then saw consistent snowfalls, with pretty much a snow system giving a top up to the cover each week through June, July and August. We did see a fair bit of rain during the season as well, usually pre frontal that washed away a fair bit of the cover, with the run off causing significant damage to the cover on the lower slopes. The consistent snowfalls have been a godsend for the snow related businesses that have been hit hard since covid and then the terrible seasons of 2023 and 2024. Lets hope for another good season next year so they can all get back on their feet, as one good season isn't enough to get back what was lost. One thing to note is that Snowy Hydro stopped cloud seeding in the mountains at the end of the 2023 season, which was found to add 14% more precipitation to the snow bearing systems (it was stopped due to budget constraints). So in any statistical data you need to take into consideration that from 2004-2023 we had cloud seeding possibly topping up the snowfall. On the downside the lower resorts of Selwyn and Baw Baw would probably say it was a below average season as we didn't see the bigger snowfalls reach very low levels. Many systems that had showers and rain associated with them had snow only falling above 1400-1500m so the lower areas suffered. As a result both resorts closed early. I hope the Snowatch forecasts have helped in some way this season. It has been a tricky one to pick with the snow level and temps being marginal in most of the systems that moved across the mountains. I do all the forecasts manually (the only one that does) after studying various forecast charts, data and satellite images early each morning. No automated forecasts or numbers are spat by algorithms on here, I type in all the forecast text, wind strengths, predicted snowfall amounts and probably the hardest part the chance of snowmaking nights for each resort daily. See you back on May 1st for the start of the Season 2026 forecasts. Stay safe and enjoy the off season. Pete 'The Frog' Taylor
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