South-eastern Australia will again be swept with wintry weather this weekend as another series of strong cold fronts hit the region.
Fifty to 100mm of rain and up to a metre of snow have been forecast with the freezing level dropping as low as 400 metres early next week, according to Jackson Browne from the Bureau of Meteorology.
"That would see snow around some of the hills of Hobart," he said.
By Tuesday, snow could possibly reach as far north as the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales.
"So towns like Armidale, Guyra, Glenn Innes and Tenterfield could get some snow," Mr Browne said.
Rain for South Australia first
The cold, moist air will hit South Australia first, bringing welcome rain to the eastern parts of the state, before moving through Victoria and New South Wales on Sunday and into Monday.
"The Adelaide forecast is pretty meaty, in terms of precipitation, as well as the exposed coasts about the lower south-east of the state and up into the Adelaide Hills," Mr Browne said.
Melbourne will feel the brunt of the weather on Sunday, with cold, wet conditions forecast before temperatures drop on Monday when there's even a chance of small hail.
Puffer jacket weather to continue
"It's going to be anomalously cool across pretty much the southern two-thirds of Australia come Monday, with temperatures 4 to 6 degrees below the June average," Mr Browne said.
That's great news for ski resorts, which can expect up to a metre of fresh snow by Tuesday, ahead of the start of the ski season on the Queen's Birthday weekend.
The ski fields have already been blessed with up to 60cm of snow this week, in what looks like one of the best early seasons in years.
"Everyone's getting super excited about some pretty big numbers.
"Queen's Birthday long weekends can be anything from the sublime to the ridiculous. Some years we're standing around on grass having a cocktail.
"When we get snow like this, obviously it's happy days and everybody celebrates, but you can't count on it till it's on the ground."
Blue skies by mid-next week
Behind the series of fronts, a high-pressure system should move over eastern Australia by the middle of next week.
"That will lead to relatively fine conditions over much of the country, with frosty mornings," Mr Browne said.
"It's a pretty dominant high, taking up the majority of Australia."
Rain seen as far north as Darwin and southern Queensland
Troughs associated with the recent wet weather have allowed a lot of moisture to reach as far north as the Northern Territory, according to Mr Browne.
"Some of the suburbs around Darwin have recorded some decent rainfall in the past seven days, which is unusual because now we're in June, which fits squarely into the dry season," he said.
The system sweeping the south this weekend could affect Southern Queensland as well.
"It looks like there'll be a bit of rainfall enhancement up around the southern Queensland-northern New South Wales border area as some of that moisture makes its way to the very top of the Great Divide and begins to rain out," Mr Browne said.
'The Southern Ocean has won out'
The cold, wet conditions arriving from the south and the west mark the beginning of the end of La Niña's stranglehold over Eastern Australia's weather, according to Mr Browne.
"It seems that the Southern Ocean has won out in terms of influence now. Westerly winds have started to make their way up into the continent, rather than the easterly winds coming off the Pacific Ocean," he said.
"The narrative has flipped on its head dramatically."
But the wet weather may not last, due to a forecast change in a climate driver affecting the Southern Ocean called the Southern Annular Mode, or SAM.
"We do have some climate guidance, which is suggesting that SAM will go positive again. And that will herald another dry episode," Mr Browne said.
