Once the weather starts to cool down in southern Australia, something interesting starts to happen to this website: traffic to the ‘sidecountry’ skiing and boarding guide to Mt Hotham starts to climb, peaking in early June.
Its that time of year where we can almost smell the snow and are locking in trips. While this rain has been good, its still really warm. So, what type of winter do we have coming? After last years boom-and-bust cycle of good snow alternating with warm air and rain, lets hope its more consistent. The media is warning of a strong El Nino event this winter, meaning warm and dry conditions. The much trusted weather guru, The Grasshopper who writes for Mountain Watch recently released their initial forecast for the 2014 season.
Amongst some interesting analysis of what an El Nino event actually means, the bottom line on forecast is:
More likely than not we will have a mediocre to above average season and there will be plenty of opportunity for fresh provided you are ready for it. But even if things tend towards the lower end of the scale, my gut tells me we will be compensated by plenty of cool clear nights with copious amounts of snow making to keep the groomed areas looking tip top.
Read the full report here.
And keep checking Mountain Watch for an update closer to June.
Fingers crossed!
Mountain Journal 
April 11, 2014 at 10:29 am
‘Mediocre to above average’? Hmm. But yes, going with the flow as always pays dividends.