Australian Snow Statistics

Updated with data from 1954 to 1998

The following graphs are based on snow depth charts for the Perisher Valley region, New South Wales Snowy Mountains for the years 1954 to 1998. Measurements are from Spencers Creek on the way to Charlottes Pass and were kindly provided by the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority (data now available online). One day I might get time to add (and process) data for 1999 to 2008... but the overall trends are unlikely to change much!

The Australian ski season goes from June to October but be aware that Australian snow falls are highly variable, as illustrated in the first graph. The good news is that, averaged over several years, the snow falls do not seem to be getting worse and a very good dump seems to occur every few years. Picking, in advance, which years are "good" seems impossible. However, just like going to the horse races, it pays to know the "odds" that a particular week of the year will be good - that's what this site is about - averaging the conditions over many years. The third graph gives these odds.

Ski Helmets - a buyers guide (thanks Tom Gibson).  American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: Position Statement - Helmet Use in Skiing and Snow Boarding

Pre-season snow falls

Subject to the high variability and small sample sizes, a good snow fall in mid-June did suggest a good season. For the period 1964 to 1995, of 11 years where there was 50cm or more in mid-June there were 7 years where the snow exceeded 150cm in late August (64% of 11). Of the 21 years where the snow was under 50cm in mid-June there were also 7 years where snow exceeded 150cm in late August (33% of 21). In other words, there is twice the chance of good snow at the peak of the season if there is reasonable snow in mid-June!


Below are some snapshots of Mt Perisher in late May or early June over several years.


2010 - 21 June - promising start!



2009 - 5 June



2008 - No sign of snow!

The Age 4 May 08: High hopes for bumper ski season



2007 - Patchy but cold



2006 - Promising in mid June!

Update 2 Aug 06: BUT... with a snow depth of less than 0.6m at Spencers Creek at the start of August it is in the running the worst season since 1973. Update: sure was!

 

2005 - Like a mid-summer day!

2 Jun 05: This year SE Australia experienced one of its warmest, driest autumns on record. Let's hope it doesn't continue through winter.

2004 - only a few patches of snow early in June but it turned out to be a great season

 


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2003  - good early season snow


Photo taken 31 May 2003.

2002

Late May 2002. No photos of Mt Perisher yet but there is a light cover of snow across the Perisher area. Has to be better than 2001! (but don't hold me to that). Spencer Creek has 0.4m of snow.
Photo taken on 3 June 2002:


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2001

A view of Mt Perisher on 25 May 2001. Looks good for mountain goats!

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Mt Perisher 30 May 2000

2000

80cm in one dump in late May 2000! Good news for the start of a great season. The Sydney Olympics meant that the slopes were empty.  A great year!


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1999 - Oh well!

The 1999 season got off to a good start. 

Unfortunately warm weather and rain ruined things from early September 1999.

The message seems to be if the snow is good - get down there before it goes!


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My Guide to Ski Conditions

As a rough guide, the ski resorts are conditions are:

 
• "poor" under 50 cm
• "marginal" 50 cm to 99 cm (patchy, some rocks & grass)
• "good" 100 cm to 149 cm (all runs covered)
• "excellent" 150 cm or more
This is my own rule of thumb - the resorts tend to not publicize the relationship between snow depth and ski conditions - no free trips in it for me :( .

Make a note of the snow depth when you go to the snow as some of your favourite runs might be better or worse than my guide.

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Links (sorry if some no longer work )

• For current conditions see latest snow reports and BoM (select Snowy Mountains - snow depth is reported day to day but no historical records are available).
• How about a place which received 30 metres of snow in one season - Mt Baker in the US
• More info on Snowfall trends by Andrew Slater (not such good news about long-term trends!)
• Is this one of the first Snowboards?
• IRADSKI - Californian website
• Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority
• 5 Dec 03 NewSci: Global warming threatens ski resorts - Hundreds of ski resorts will go bust as rising temperatures push the
  snowline up to higher altitudes, warns a new report. :(
• ANU: Study warns ski resorts may perish in the heat.
• 19 Jun 08 Nature: Alpine snow taken down a notch - Swiss winter resorts suffered abrupt decline in snow in the late 1980s.



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Graphs of Snow Depth

Snow depth by year and month - 3-D graph

The first graph is not a 3D model of the Snowy Mountains! It shows the depth of snow (cm) by time of year over the period 1954-98. The left axis is month, starting at the back with June and ending at the front with October. JU1 stands for the first week in June, JU3 stands for week in June. The right axis is year, starting with 1954 on the left and ending with 1998 on the right.
 



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Snow depth for July, August and September by year

This graph shows the depth of snow in the middle of July, August & September respectively (3rd week), over the period 1954-98. The year to year variations are very evident in this graph. They do not seem to be predictable!



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Probability of given snow depth by time of year

This graph shows the probability of certain depths of snow by time
of year. For example, in the third week of August (AU3) there is about a
55% chance of a snow depth exceeding 150 cm (purple curve) and
a 87% chance of a snow depth exceeding 1 metre (blue curve).
 
 



• "poor" under 50 cm
• "marginal" 50 cm to 99 cm (patchy, some rocks & grass)
• "good" 100 cm to 149 cm (all runs covered)
• "excellent" 150 cm or more

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Data source

View the raw data (FILE/SAVE LOCATION to download it). Maybe these data correlate well with lift queue lengths!
 

Finally, don't blame me if the snow is no good!
 

by Michael Paine (home) (email)
Last update late 2 June 2005.


_{This page awarded AAA Top1% of the WEB  September 1996!}