The Australian Alps were snap frozen on Thursday morning, with as one of Victoria’s ski resorts registering the state’s lowest temperature in six years.

Very dry and cold air, combined with clear skies and light winds overnight, allowed temperatures to dive across the Australian Alps and surrounding areas on Thursday morning.

Temperatures dipped below -8°C in the highland areas of both Vic and NSW during a snap of cold weather that saw some places registering their lowest temperatures in years.

Mount Hotham’s -8.3°C was the lowest temperature recorded anywhere in Vic since 2018. In NSW, Khancoban’s -3.8°C was also its equal lowest temperature in six years.

Some other notable minimums on Thursday included:

• -9.0°C at Thredbo Village
• -8.9C at Cooma Ariport
• -8.1°C at Perisher Valley
• -4.5°C at Falls Creek
• -4.4°C at Omeo

While the cold morning was too dry to produce natural snow in the Alps, it did provide ideal conditions for artificial snowmaking to lay some snow for skiers and snowboarders.

Image: Artificial snowmaking during Thursday’s morning cold and dry weather. Source: Falls Creek Resort

"With the Winter Solstice almost upon us, we're feeling the effects of full on cold weather for the winter season enabling our snow making crews to go above and beyond with their snow making operations" said John Palmer, Falls Creek Ski Lift Company Mountain Operations Manager.

The Australian Alps will see some natural snow between Thursday night and Saturday as lingering cold air combines with an injection of moisture. While this won’t be a big dump of snow, it could deliver about 5-10cm at some resorts.