Very true about the wind hold, but it wouldn't be pleasant up there anyway on such days to say the least! Nongs they may be but most visitors have little to no experience in snow and ice being mere lowlanders/mainlanders or both . A similar situation with Mt. Canobolas road but I reckon a cable car there is much more feasible than Wello.

Tassie being Tassie (that is green, not backward) I wouldn't expect any action on this front, I was unaware of the extent of the water issue, thanks for pointing this out. At the very least, as mooted in the ABC's piece, the visitors' centre should be upgraded. It's a unique area of Australia being truly alpine and easier to access than other alpine areas such as the Snowies.

Very true SB - A proper visitors centre up there would be excellent, it really is a spectacular place to visit, at times it's just like being on Kosciusko (weather wise)but you can drive there. Above the tree line - howling freezing winds and snow but at other times beautiful blue still days where you can see really special views in a full 360 degrees.

In one day it can go from vicious to stunning or vice versa. It's absolutley unique in Australia with the combination of factors.

Yeah the nongs range from visitors to locals (put me own hand up) I was once caught out on a snowy day (all of about 2cm thick) 100m short of a spot I could turn around because my 2wd Falcon immediately became 1wd at the time I most needed 2 wheels driving. Took me about 30 minutes to creep up to the Chalet to turn around and retreat.

Meanwhile some young blokes ahead of me were having a ball fanging up and down the road in an old Subie towing a bloke on a board - that's when I knew I needed to get a 4wd if I was to really get into snowy areas.

Yes Dave i can attest to the weather up there.I could'nt believe how cold it could be on a mountain only 1260mtrs high and that was in NOV.I will say the visitors centre does provide a place to get out of the wind which i would say is the biggest factor in why the mountain top is so cold nearly all year round.I will say the views tho are out of this world.In regards to funiculars and the likes they have been built in some very exposed mountain areas of the world.I wonder if it would be possible to build a rack and pinion railway up the mountain?

I think an elevated cable car is the preferred option there to avoid/minimise damage to the mountain environment. Anything with tracks on ground will be hounded down immediately, that has been the case throught the years of discussion that I've seen.

On the one hand I'd love to see a cable car but then they will close the road and it will become more expensive, less convenient and time (access hours) restrictive for too many people.

Either way though I think the visitors centre desperately needs to be enlarged, it is ALWAYS busy up there even in a howling blizzard. Gee I love that mountain, I would go up at least once a week all the years I lived there. Heaps of walks, severe conditions at times to experience and stunningly beautiful conditions at other times.

Just an addition - in an earlier post I mentioned that the pinnacle is above the tree line (about 1100m) to get above the tree line near kosi you need to be above about 1800m so that gives a fair indication of how much impact a few hundred km further south of the Snowies makes.

Yep treeline is significantly lower in Tassie, not only due to the latitudinal difference but proximity to the coast as well relative to the Snowy Mountains (which results in cooler summers). I think the treeline on the Central Plateau is a tad higher (c. 1200 m)? Wind also plays a role in lowering the treeline.

Very gusty, dry and very warm down here again today. Feels like being in a fan forced oven. Mount Wellington has a very heat hazy look about it. Plenty of cars going up and down today,mirrors reflecting in the hot sun. I don't like their chances of seeing any snow. Just can't believe it's mid April.

It's been an unusual April for you for sure. Can't see much in the way of strong cold changes for a while yet although Anzac Day and Surrounds could be a bit uncertain as to what happens. Models have changed a bit for that time recently.

Will be an interesting start to May in Hobart , if the BOM is correct the first 2 days will start off at 5 deg above the monthly average for daytime temps and between 2 to 6 deg over the May night average.
Wondering when I'll ever be able to put away the shorts and t-shirts this year ?

Just head up the Mountain to cool off.

An amazing period of warmer temps down there. Making up for last year when it seemed to snow pretty much evey month.

The current weather around Hobart shows up well on their new doppler. Really does show how poor their old radar was at detecting precipitation around the region.
Hobart 128km doppler radar: http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR763.loop.shtml#skip

Gusts up to 141km/h at Maatsuyker Island today. Wind gusts up to 80-125km/h today closer to Hobart.

OMG @ the wind http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR76I.loop.shtml#skip

A little dusting of snow on Mt.wellington this morning. Was a very windy night so I think most of the white stuff was simply blown away.Got some photos this morning but can't find how to upload them to this post. Can someone give me some pointers as i'm only new.

I just recently asked the same question about loading pics to here.
One of our ever helpful members recommeded Imageshack as an example. From there, after you've uploaded your pic to e.g. Imageshack, you can copy and paste the pictures' code to upload the picture on WZ.
When you look at your image gallery on Imageshack, there will be some small symbols running down the side of your picture. Click on the 'share' symbol and copy the long code, then paste it into your text field here/post space. Then preview your post to see if it's worked for you.
When uploading a pic to WZ choose the "Switch to full reply screen' to use for your post and pic.
Just watch the size of your image, you don't want to slow down the loading of it for others when they read your post if the image is too big.
Hope that helps.

Thanks so much duckweather . will give it a try . cheers

The Mt. Koonya radar is great, the Tasman Peninsula looks a lot wetter than Hobart in SW'ly airstreams as moisture is picked up across Storm Bay. If there was a decent sized mountain on the TP it would be a snow lovers' delight for sure.

The old radar at the airport was useless really, it only helped the airport really and close in. By the time rain appeared on the radar for Hobart from the SW you were generally already wet anyhow so you knew without using it.

The Hartz Range will possibly still mask some of the rain BUT this will be dramatically better all round. It will really highlight just how much precip Bruny Island and the Tasman Pen really get.

There are a few peaks over 400 m on the TP (Mt. Koonya included), so they would cop a fair few dustings throughout the winter I'd imagine. Was just reacquainting myself with the area around Port Arthur, very lush country- a bit like coastal Oregon at the same distance from the equator. Hard to believe this place was the scene of so much terror, both in historical and contemporary times.

The higher parts of TP indeed would see flakeage, I lived at 350m on flanks of Mt Wellington and saw numerous falls each year. However given that the TP is surrounded by water, snow would not hang around for long on most occasions.

Conversely though the levels of precip seem to be higher there than say Hobart so if the accumulation was enough on the higher peaks it could hang about a couple of days - especially when sea/low level snow was about.

The Peninsula is extremely scenic - eg highest sea cliffs in Australia at approx 300m straight out of the ocean. The ultra heavy waves of Shipsterns Bluff are there, many many sea caves, blow holes, waterfall into the ocean at Waterfall Bay, Remarkable Cave, Cape Huay etc etc Tremendous place all round.

Beautiful image sat wise right now