A bright start to the week in Canberra has been replaced with wet, windy and gloomy conditions with a series of cold fronts expected to pass across the territory and bring further snowfall to the NSW alps.
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Weatherzone meteorologist Max Gonzalez said Canberra could see up to 25mm of rainfall by Friday with wind gusts of up to 70km/h on Thursday afternoon.
“At this point we’re looking at between two and eight mm of rainfall late on Tuesday although this will mostly be dumped west of the Brindabellas with some rainfall spilling into the city,” he said.
“Wednesday will bring more rain to Canberra with anywhere between five and 15mm.”
Mr Gonzalez said rainfall should persist on Thursday with average winds of 40 to 50km/h winds and gusts of up to 70km/h, before eventually clearing on Friday.
Mr Gonzalez said the mid-week rainfall is the result of tropical moisture from the north combining with a set of cold fronts moving across the territory in the next couple of days.
“This will mean the mid-week will be colder with temperatures lingering around 10 degrees, with Friday being slightly cooler in the wake of the cold fronts.
The good news is the night temperatures will stay unseasonably warm for the next three days with temperatures dropping as low as 4 degrees.
The Bureau of Meteorology is currently forecasting top temperatures of 10 degrees on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before dropping to 9 degrees on Friday,and increasing to 12 degrees on the weekend.
"Over the weekend there will be return of clear skies so the overnight temperatures will drop below freezing once again, although it will be warmer throughout the day,” he said.
The mid-week cold front will not bring any snow to the Canberra region however it will replenish the snow slopes of Thredbo and Perisher, which are enjoying the best snow cover in many seasons.
“There will be no snow in Canberra as it will be too warm although we could see about 20 to 40cm of snowfall over the next four days on the Snowy Mountains,” Mr Gonzalez said.
“The snow level will be about 1600m although it will drop a little lower on Thursday, but by then there will not be as much snow falling on the alps.”
Thredbo spokesman Luke Kneller said staff at the resort were still waiting for temperatures to drop below freezing although snow began falling on the peaks shortly before midday on Tuesday.
“We should get about 5cm later tonight [Tuesday] and the bigger of the cold fronts will pass over on Thursday and we hope it will bring up to 20cm of snow," he said.
Perisher spokesman Richard Phillips said snow started to fall on Perisher village around mid-morning which added to the existing 1.3m of snow cover on the slopes
Mr Phillips said the cold front should hang around for a couple of days meaning the resort will most likely have another busy weekend.
“Last weekend was the busiest of the year for us,” he said.
A Corin Forest spokesman said there was 45cm on soft cover snow in the play area on Tuesday afternoon with drizzle falling from midday.
“The forecast is for snowfalls Wednesday night right through Thursday down to 1100m. Fingers crossed!”
The rainfall had however forced the closure of the alpine slide, which they hoped to open to the public on Tuesday.
“The weather is definitely working against us with the alpine slide, the rain means it won't be opening as planned,” the spokesman said.
