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Australian ski season off to a good start – so what's next?

Source Weatherzone Fri 13 Jun 2025

The opening weekend of the 2025 ski season in Australia featured a wintry blast that dropped more than half a metre of fresh snow at most ski resorts. This snow has laid a good base for the season ahead, but what does the rest of June have in store for the Australian Alps? Snow lovers visiting the Australian Alps over the King’s Birthday long weekend were treated to around 50 to 70 cm of natural snow falling over the space of three to four days. This burst of wintry weather transformed the Alps, covering many areas in their first decent snow of the season. There was also snow well outside the alpine region, with flakes even falling in central and northern NSW. Images: Snow near Orange, NSW on Monday, June 9, 2025. Source: @printhiewine / Instagram. Negative SAM influenced snowy weather The outbreak of cold and snowy weather that hit southeastern Australia over the long weekend followed a brief negative period of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). When the SAM is negative, cold fronts tend to become stronger and more active at southern Australia’s latitudes. It’s common to see periods of snowy weather when the SAM goes negative in winter. The location and persistence of a complex low pressure system over southeastern Australia also played a big part in the recent period of snowy weather. Image: Mt Hotham on June 13, 2025. Source: Hotham / Chris Hocking What about the rest of June? Forecast models suggest that the SAM will be neutral or positive in the coming weeks, which means the big outbreaks of cold air that can cause hefty snowfalls are looking less likely. That doesn’t mean there won’t be any more snow in June though. A couple of cold fronts will deliver a few centimetres of top-up snow in the alps this Sunday and early next week. There are early signs that another frontal system will arrive in southeastern Australia around June 23, increasing the prospects of more snow towards the end of the month. Cold nights and predominantly dry weather between these fronts will also allow for plenty of snowmaking at the main ski resorts, which will help maintain plenty of snow to slide around on. - Weatherzone © Weatherzone 2025