You know it has been a decent Australian snow season when the snow depth passes two metres at Spencers Creek in New South Wales. That was confirmed this week, with a depth reading of 204.5 cm.

As we've told you previously in our weekly winter snow updates, Spencers Creek is located at an elevation of 1830m, roughly halfway between the major NSW ski resorts of Thredbo and Perisher.

• Hydro electricity operator Snowy Hydro takes snow depth readings at semi-regular intervals at Spencers Creek (and two lower locations) throughout the winter, and has done so since the 1950s.
• Over the years, the peak season depth at Spencers has come in at an average just under two metres.
• So now that Spencers has cracked two metres, 2022 will go down as a better-than-average season at that elevation, helped along by the massive early June snowfalls which really set up the snowpack for the season.

But what about lower elevations?

That's definitely another story. Below about 1500m above sea level, there has been meagre snow in Australia ever since about mid-June, when that early big dump started to melt.

That's reflected in Snowy Hydro's data for its lowest site, Three Mile Dam, at about 1430m in northern Kosciuszko National Park. The depth there measured on August 24? A lowly 1.4 cm.

Let's take a look at this year's graphs from Spencers Creek and Three Mile Dam (in that order) to illustrate our point.

Image: 2022, officially now a good season up high. Source: Snowy Hydro.

Anecdotally, there is plenty of evidence that the snow line in the Australian Alps appears to be rising. Your reporter is currently in Perisher, enjoying the two-metre base up high, while a couple of kilometres down the road at Smiggin Holes, conditions are becoming patchy on lower slopes.

A couple more (linear) kilometres down the hill, bare grass lines the road where in previous decades you might have expected snow in what is such a good season up high.

Declining snow at lower elevations makes sense, with temps having risen by more than a degree in Australia since the BoM started keeping national records in 1910.

But the good news for now is that we still have terrific skiable snow up high this week at our mainland ski resorts, and the snow should last well into spring. Here's our weekly rundown of conditions:

Image: Conditions are great at Hotham in Victoria. Source: Authors's pic.

Victoria

Mt Hotham, Falls Creek and Mt Buller all have most of their lifts open after good midweek falls, so check the highlighted links for more info.

Australia's lowest mainland resort Mt Baw Baw has a base of just 28 cm, which is very much in keeping with the info in the top half of this story. But the resort has three of its seven lifts open, with the chance of more running over the weekend. More info here.

NSW

Thredbo, Perisher, and Charlotte Pass all have all or most lifts spinning with great conditions after the falls earlier this week, so check the highlighted links for updates.

Tasmania

Snow fell midweek at Mt Mawson and Ben Lomond, however at this stage, it appears that it wasn't quite enough to improve the patchy cover to the point where lifts will open this weekend. The tiny Tassie skifields have had a tough year 

As ever, please check the Weatherzone snow page for the latest cams, forecasts and other info.