Short Term Outlook
First up, Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! I hope you have a great day. Well, yesterday was certainly one for the books, and anyone brave enough to venture out into the mountains deserves a medal. We saw heavy rain and gale-force winds throughout the day, with Perisher receiving around 115mm, Falls Creek 109mm, Hotham 96mm and Thredbo 77mm. The result was water gushing down slopes and through creeks, with minor flooding in some areas. A huge amount of snow was washed away, while the strong winds meant most lifts and chairs were on hold for much of the day. Falls Creek and Charlotte Pass have now closed for the season, while Hotham and Mt Buller will call stumps after today. We’ll now have to wait and see how much longer Perisher and Thredbo can hang on. Thredbo now has only Friday Flat open, with the rest of the mountain closing yesterday. Today will be cloudy to start, with the chance of some light drizzle and snow falling about the peaks. Winds will still be quite strong around the higher elevations early and could affect lifts, before easing a little during the day. This will be the last Snowatch snow forecast for Season 2026. We are likely to see Perisher and Thredbo announce their closing dates in the next day or so, with only very limited skiing and snowboarding now possible. It’s been a very frustrating season — one that showed some early promise with snow for the opening weekend. But without a decent run of snowmaking across May and June, we were always on the back foot. With El Niño expected to really kick in later in the season, the odds were stacked against us. July showed some promise, with a few weeks of good snowfalls, but unfortunately the first weekend of August delivered more rain than snow. From there, the warm air arrived and the snowmelt began. Unfortunately, 2026 will go down as one of the worst seasons on record. A huge thank you to everyone who has followed Snowatch this season. It has been an incredibly tough year to forecast, with marginal snow levels making things difficult, and I certainly haven’t always got it right. Hopefully, next year brings a much better combination of natural snowfall and snowmaking nights. I’ve also tried to be much more visible and engaging this year, with daily social media posts, and it looks like that has helped spread the word, with visitor numbers up 40% on last year. I’ve received more messages this year asking about upcoming weather, advice on booking dates, and whether to change or cancel trips than at any other time. I know that, more often than not, the answers weren’t what you wanted to hear, but when people are spending their hard-earned money, I feel it’s important to be honest about the conditions and the risks. I’ll be working on a 2026 season report and analysis this morning and will post it on the Snowatch website. Although the Australian season is now coming to an end, I’ll still be keeping a close eye on what’s happening overseas as winter arrives in the Northern Hemisphere and the snow begins to fall in the coming months, so Snowatch will still be active. But for now, I’m going to enjoy my first sleep-in since May 1st! A big thank you also to Liquid Radio for hosting my Snowatch reports each morning since early June. Thanks again to everyone who followed, shared, commented and sent messages throughout the season. It’s been a tough one, but I really appreciate your support. Stay safe everyone, and here’s hoping for a much snowier 2027! 🐸
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