THE vigorous cold front that is passing through NSW and Victoria delivered 10 centimetres of snow to the Snowy Mountains overnight and the snow continues to fall today, reports Thredbo Media. 

“Snow blanketed Thredbo, all the way to the village, with visitors forgiven for thinking they had skipped autumn and landed in the middle of winter as the temps dipped to minus 6 and combined with strong winds it felt more like minus 17,” they say.

The Thredbo Media team spent the night in the elements, at the top of the resort and reported that while 10cm of snow registered in the gauge some of the wind–drifts were close to a metre deep in places.

“It was a wild night, it was hard to see at times as the snow that was falling was light and dry and the strong winds blew it around so it was a full-blown blizzard” said Lucas Wilkinson, the Thredbo content manager.

Another surge of winter is expected in the mountains later today and overnight with up to 20cm expected to settle about the peaks.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a weather warning for the area stating: “In alpine areas above 1900 metres, southerly winds are expected to average above 80 km/h with peak gusts in excess of 120 km/h following this change. Blizzard conditions are possible about alpine areas above 1700 metres with these winds. The National Parks Service of NSW recommends that people consider postponing back country travel until conditions improve”

Resort management is not planning to open lifts for skiing and boarding until the official opening of the snow season on the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend starting on June 9.