Australian Weather

Today, 1:06AM UTC

A vast rainband crossing eastern Australia has delivered widespread heavy rain, heaviest in northern and central Victoria, with Bendigo receiving 49.2 mm, its wettest June day since 1898. The rainband stretches all the way from Queensland to Tasmania. Other rainfall totals of note from this system in the 24 hours to 9 am Tuesday included: VIC 67.2 mm at  Specimen Hill Reservoir on Bendigo’s western outskirts, the highest reading in Victoria (and indeed anywhere in Australia). Falls between 50 mm and 60 mm recorded at five other locations across northern and central parts of the state. NSW 42.2 mm at Boullia, a sheep station in the state’s far northwestern corner – an unusual location for the highest NSW daily rainfall total in any season. 29 mm at Wamberra Station in the far southwest of the state, illustrating how this system has brought widespread rainfall across western NSW. QLD 38 mm at Nockatunga, a cattle station in far southwest Qld. Falls of more than 25 mm at no fewer than 10 other locations in the state’s southwest and far west. SA Numerous handy falls in the 10-20 mm range in eastern SA, from the North East Pastoral forecast district all the way down to the Lower South East TAS Falls between about 25 mm and 45 mm at multiple locations in Tasmania’s northwest. Why such heavy rain overnight? Image: Enhanced atmospheric water vapour satellite loop for the eight hours to 9 am (AEST) on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. Source Weatherzone. This is a system with tropical origins, as a moisture-laden air feed pours southwards, fuelled by warm waters off northern and eastern Australia. While heavy rain has fallen across a wide area and some places might feel chilly due to cloud cover and the short midwinter days, the airmass itself is relatively mild for June – although that will change by Friday as a strong cold front whips across the southeast. Rain continues during Tuesday with mild temperatures on the east coast Image: Combined radar and satellite image for Australia at 11 am (AEST) on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, showing the rainband crossing NSW, Vic and Tas. Source: Weatherzone. Rain will continue this Tuesday as the main rainband tracks eastwards. It will tend to run out of steam to an extent as it crosses the Great Dividing Range, delivering generally lighter falls to the east coast than to inland areas. Particularly heavy falls can be expected in the alpine region later this Tuesday, with totals in the 50 to 100 mm range possible. Mild temperatures are on the forecast for the east coast due to the northerly aspect of winds associated with this system. For example, Sydney is expected to kick off July with maximums of 22°C on Wednesday and 23°C on Thursday. The average July maximum (in what is statistically the city’s coldest month) is 16.5°C.

29 Jun 2026, 5:10AM UTC

Snow is looming on the forecasts for the alpine region of mainland Australia and large parts of Tasmania later this week – and not before time. As the calendar flips over from June to July, you’d normally expect to see at least some snow coverage at the highest elevations of Australia’s ski resorts by the end of the first month of winter. But not this year. Officially no natural snow to start July Last week, hydro-electricity operator Snowy Hydro released a reading of precisely zero centimetres at Spencers Creek – the highest of three snow measuring sites where it has conducted regular readings throughout the cooler months since 1954. Image: Snow depth comparison of 2025 and 2026 (up until June 24) at Spencers Creek, NSW. Source: Snowy Hydro. Only once previously has Spencers Creek registered no snow at the start of July in 72 years of data. But with almost zero chance of snow accumulation before Wednesday, July 1 (and the likelihood of heavy rain on Tuesday), the Australian Alps look set to start July snowless for just the second time on record. Consistent warm temperatures and frequent rain events are the cause of the bare slopes. After a promising snowfall of up to 20 cm just before the traditional King’s Birthday long weekend, the snow soon washed away or melted, and virtually no snow has fallen since. As an example of the recent mild temperatures, Perisher’s average minimum and maximum for June 2026 are currently running at 2.3°C and 1.7°C above their respective long-term averages. Bad weather for snowmaking too Compounding the bleak picture for snow enthusiasts and the resort staff and business that rely on their trade, minimal snowmaking has been conducted by Australia’s ski resorts throughout June, due to a relentless string of nights which have been too warm or too humid for snowmaking. That’s why even slopes like Perisher’s normally reliable Front Valley are currently just a string of disconnected patches this Monday, with only some very basic sliding terrain for people experiencing their first day on snow (bottom right of image below). Image: Expect full coverage on Front Valley by this weekend, if forecasts hold. Source: Perisher.com.au. Heavy rain, then snow moves late Thursday night As Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino wrote on Monday morning, three distinct bands of rain are expected move across Australia this week, potentially causing flooding in some parts of the southeast. The first two rainbands will be accompanied by airmasses with tropical origins that are too warm for snow at the elevation of the ski resorts. The third system is a different story. It pushes in from the Southern Ocean and reaches the mountains late on Thursday, and has the potential to deliver a much-needed dump of around 30 centimetres of snow at higher elevations. In Tasmania, snow could be even heavier, and looks likely to fall to very low elevations due to a burst of especially frigid air at more southerly latitudes than the mainland. Image: Precipitable water and mean sea level pressure for 10pm (AEST) on Thursday, July 2, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. As the graphic above shows, the heaviest quantities of atmospheric water vapour will stream across the country ahead of the cooler air associated with the low centred over western Bass Strait. But there should still be significant moisture crossing the mountains in tandem with the cool air for a period of 36-hours or so from late on Thursday into the early hours of Sunday. This should generate the heaviest Australian snowfalls since the early June snow which washed away. Perhaps the most positive news for Australia’s ski resorts as the school holidays get into full swing (Vic and Qld kicked off this week, NSW and SA schoolkids are off from next Monday) is that the cold, mostly dry air in the wake of Friday’s cold front should produce ideal snowmaking conditions well into next week. Image: Daily forecasts for Mt Hotham (Vic) on the Weatherzone app. As ever, check the latest forecasts, live cams and more on the Weatherzone snow page.