Does it snow in Australia?
Does it snow in Australia? Yes, but not everywhere. The Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, High Country of Victoria and mountains of Tasmania get regular winter snow, and are home to Australia’s ski resorts.
Australia is generally seen as a hot and sunny place. The likes of Neighbours, Home and Away and Crocodile Dundee have conditioned the world to see Australia as a place of sunshine and surf.
But it is not always hot in Australia, and different parts of the country have very different weather patterns. The weather at Uluru is barely recognisable from the weather in Hobart or the weather in Airlie Beach, for example.
Where does it snow in Australia?
Despite autumn in Australia often feeling like summer elsewhere, the country can get surprisingly cold. But does it snow in Australia? Well, yes, but only in certain regions.
There is reliable winter snow in Australia in the Australian Alps. These are the mountains at the lower part of the Great Dividing Range, clustered around the straight part of the Victoria-New South Wales border.
The highest of the Australian Alps is Mt Kosciuszko, which rises 2,228km above sea level. But there are several peaks in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales and High Country of Victoria that come close.
When do Australian ski resorts get snow?
There are several ski resorts within these mountains, generally operating between June and October. Perisher in New South Wales is the biggest Australian ski resort by some distance. Others in New South Wales include Thredbo, Charlotte Pass and Selwyn. These are all around two to three hours drive south of Canberra.
In Victoria, the biggest resorts are Mt Buller, Hotham and Falls Creek. You can also go skiing at Mt Baw Baw, where it’s possible to do husky dog sledding too.
Snow in Tasmania, Canberra and Queensland
Snow also falls in Tasmania, which has a couple of small ski resorts in Ben Lomond and Mount Lawson. Canberra occasionally gets some winter snow, but infrequently. The Australian capital is the largest Aussie city where you might get snow, however. There’s also occasional snow in Australia further up the Great Dividing Range. Generally, there’s a possibility of snow as far up as the Granite Belt around Stanthorpe in southern Queensland.
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