Winter made a bold—if late—entrance to the mountains in southeastern Australia.
Winter made a bold—if late—entrance to the mountains in southeastern Australia. Much to the delight of skiers Down Under, a period of seasonal weather in July 2024 brought significant accumulations to the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales.
The OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 captured this wintry image of Australia’s Snowy Mountains on July 28. Part of the Australian Alps, the range is home to the country’s tallest peaks, including Mount Kosciuszko at 2,228 meters (7,310 feet), as well as several popular ski resorts. Peak snow season in this region usually lasts from June to August, although snow commonly falls at higher elevations in May and can linger through October.
Winter got off to a slow start in the Snowy Mountains in 2024, however. Slopes were mostly bare for the traditional opening of the ski season in early June, according to news reports. Meteorologists attributed the lack of snow to blocking highs, or strong high pressure systems, that persisted over the Great Australian Bight.
Read more at NASA Earth Observatory
Image: NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey
