The 2022 ski season is off to a flying start, with heavy snowfall in Victoria’s alpine regions the day before winter officially starts.
The snow came as part of a polar cold front that has prompted storms and gale force winds through four states in Australia’s south-east.
Rhylla Morgan from Buller Ski Lifts told Today that while official measurements had not yet been taken, at least 15cm of snow had fallen on Victoria’s Mt Buller overnight.
Heavy snow is falling on Victoria’s alpine regions. (9News)
“It’s absolutely magical up here,” she said.
Australia’s ski communities have struggled during the past two years of lockdowns and travel bans, and are hopeful of a resurgent 2022 season.
“There is a lot of excitement here in the community on the mountain,” Morgan said.
Mt Buller is already seeing strong bookings. (9News)
“It’s going to be a really big season, we hope.
“This is a really nice way to start.”
Bookings have been strong ahead of the slopes opening, with reservations already being made through to September.
Thousands without power, trees downed
Thousands of people are without power and trees blown down after heavy storms ripped through New South Wales and southern Queensland overnight.
The SES responded to at least 500 calls across NSW, while the storm system left 18,000 homes without electricity – 14,000 of them still without the lights on as of this morning.
The storm, with winds of up to 120km/hr struck everywhere from metropolitan Sydney, north to Newcastle and even Armidale, as well as Queensland’s Darling Downs.
The polar blast is continuing in Australia’s south-east. (9News)
The storm system has since moved off the coast of NSW, but the cold of the polar blast will remain.
Temperatures are set to stay as low as 10C in Sydney today, with the wind chill factor making it feel even colder.
Victoria, South Australia and Queensland remain under severe weather warnings, with gale force winds of up to 90km/hr predicted.
Trees were brought down in gale-force winds. (9News)
Melbourne is set to shiver through another cold day with a top of 11C, after yesterday reached 11.7C – the city’s coldest day since last winter.
And there are fears more power outages could be seen in south-east Queensland, with the sodden ground proving a fragile base for power poles in the face of strong winds.
Towns cut off by floodwaters for second time this year