Great points, thanks. I went to Mt Buller last year in an AWD X-Trail and didn't need to fit chains despite a 20cm fall during the week and that was very convenient. BTW, I've added some snow photos from that trip to my online space, accessible from my profile.

Hi David,

There is reference to what I think is this storm in the book, Cullenbenbong, by Bernard O'Reilly. No dates are mentioned, but the timing would be about right. There is one chapter on this huge snow storm and he describes 2 feet of snow on blackheath station and the Fish steam train arriving at Central with a foot of snow on top!

The snow was right down in the valleys too, as he lived in the Kanibla Valley. The whole book is a great old-fashioned read of the life and times of that era. You can hunt down copies at the second hand book shops, particularly those in the mountains. Cheers

Thanks very much for that Finners; next time I'm in that big antique and book shop in Katoomba (or other secondhand bookshop...any recommendations of other shops in the Blue Mountains?) I'll keep an eye open for that. Although I'm no trainspotter, it'd be great to see the Zig Zag steam engine under snow sometime!

In celebration of a stormy February across the ranges, our local cake shop has taken to producing severe 'pulse' cup cakes. No flanking line but a nice anvil and those updrafts are pretty solid. Reckon this pulse, cup cake lasted more than twenty minutes? No chance.

slight backshear and overshooting top also blizz, nice catch! :p

Did you get any choc-chips...I mean...hail, out of that one? I bet there was only bits of scud...er, crumbs left after a very short while; powerful forces of nature at work and all that.

Will this recent trend herald in a new era of 'Bake a Supercell' divisions in country town annual show competitions?

And inside those updrafts are some choc chip hailstones too. Hmm, time to head up to the local cake shop. Best cup cakes you'll ever eat too...

Bit quieter up here today re storms which was not unexpected.

Edit: You read my mind David. That thing is full of choc chips!

I got mine (it has both Cullenbenbong and Green Mountains - the story of the Stinson airliner) from the bookshop in Leura. Left them the details and they contacted me when they found one.

And just for all the snow deprived, I'm writing this my hotel roon in Vancouver, BC, where there are flurries on and off outside - very pretty! Great reward for an 8 hour delay in San Francisco.

ROFLMAO....The base of that thing looks like it's on the ground......er table!

I'm sitting here in 25°C temps, going a deep shade of green, at the thought of snow flurries and Alberta clippers; sheer snow-envy. At least 4-6 months to go before I get to see and ski snow! A migratory lifestyle between hemispheres, following the winter might be the answer. Perhaps if I just stick my head in the freezer every now and then, it'll prevent complete nuttiness?

Nah mate, just head to Shooters Hill with a flask and a transistor radio and dream of snow all night.

http://www.blackheathweather.com/picture2006b.html

What's the earliest one would start seeing winter snowfall on a regular basis in the Great Dividing Range in NSW and Victoria? Also what about Tasmania - does it it get snowfall in the mountains that much earlier than Victoria?

Well Tassie CAN have snow any time of the year, especially on the higher and more western peaks.

I always expect quite a reasonable fall of snow in Tas in April.

Mike, on a regular basis? Never!

On the central ranges of NSW these days its usually June before a decent fall moves up but yeah, it can happen from April onwards but invariably the early falls are light or just flurries. These days, my town only averages about four snowfalls a year and maybe two of those settle to a passable amount. In a good year we might get six or more falls but the snow usually melts pretty fast and its back to 10C and sunny.

Our falls by your standards really are pretty low key. Lots of fun for we folk in the sub-tropics though!

What about ski resorts in Australia of which I know there's a number of, mostly in Victoria and southern NSW? Don't they have to have reliable winter snowfall in order to operate without going out of business faster than you can say snowmelt?

Mike last year was a real struggle for the alps, with the lack of cold fronts to give us decent falls the only resorts really doing okay was the ones who had snowmaking machines.

Vic Bulla, Falls Creek and Hotham
NSW i think was Threadbo, Perisher Blue and another on (sorry nsw guys!)

But usually Aug-Sept the alps rock with decent snow falls and sometimes depending on the season October can have good falls as well

Lots and of Aussies are travelling to ski in Niseko in Japan these days. The local Japanese are being pushed out by Australian entrepreneurs who've bought up big, knowing they've got over 7 metres of powder to bank on each season. NZ had a bumper snow season last year, while Australian skiers were scraping over grass and rocks. I stood and listened to a ski tech at Buller rant for 15 minutes about the terrible condition some of the skis he was servicing were in after use.

Yep Blizz, another thousand metres or so of elevation at Shooters Hill might be the cure for snow-madness out here on the plains, 287m ASL. Perhaps its barometric claustrophobia that's getting to me?

What about New Zealand? How reliable is the snowfall there during the winter on average? As I understand it, the skiing in South Island is certainly popular enough among Australians that Qantas, Air NZ and a few other airlines offer ski charters out of the major Australian cities to Queenstown in South Island.

As for unreliable snowfall, it happen a lot more often than you think in my country, especially in more northern resorts like Jasper's Marmot Basin or Banff's Lake Louise. In Marmot Basin, extremely dry conditions causing a lot of bare rock and grass to occur have been known to occur even despite during really chilly temps and having a high base elevation (1697 m). It's one of Canada's northernmost major ski resorts, only a degree further south in latitude than Edmonton. Marmot Basin also gets significantly less snowfall than many ski areas further south in Alberta, BC and even the western US. It might surprise some of you that snowmaking is done extensively at ski resorts in Canada, even in Alberta. The lower snowfall in Alberta's ski resorts is usually due to low humdity, not chinooks.

However, Jasper and many other ski areas in Alberta and BC are experiencing some of the best snowfall levels this season (2006/2007).

Maybe David.

And for a bit more info for Mike, here are some shots of Tassie (28-10-06) and also the ski fields (25/12/06) for some more impressive out of season falls.

Thanks to 'Kahanamoku' from ski.com.au and also 'Snowies' for these great shots.

25-12-06 - Mt Baw Baw

25-12-06 - Mt Baw Baw again

Tassie suburbs - 28-10-06

Mt Wellington - 28-10-06

NZ does get poor snow seasons, but it is generally more reliable with higher precipitation and altitudes etc. than Australia. For people living on the Australian eastern seaboard its just about the same cost to fly and ski in 'the land of the long white cloud' as it is to ski at Australian resorts.