Weekend rain to soak several states continuing into next week

Widespread rain and isolated falls of up to 80mm are set to drench parts of Australia next week as a massive cloudband moves over the nation.

The thick northwest cloudband is expected to bring rain over parts of southeast Australia as a stream of tropical moisture continues its thousand-kilometre path from the Indian Ocean towards the country.

Wet conditions are also expected across parts of central Australia this weekend due to a sluggish upper-level trough which is set to bring another system of the same magnitude that could create a northwest cloudband and widespread rain.

Fuelled by abnormally warm surrounding seas, the moisture-packed system could bring isolated falls of 40–60 mm across parts of South Australia, Victoria, NSW, the ACT, and Tasmania.

Rainfall could continue into the latter half of next week, possibly bringing accumulated totals of 60-80mm to some southeastern states until next Sunday.

The forewarning comes as the nation continues to experience a cool last few winter weeks.

While capital cities like Sydney and Melbourne are expected to have a chillier Saturday with tops of 14 degrees and chances of rain other states like Hobart and Canberra are having a colder start to the weekend with highs of eight degrees.

Aussie snow below average as warmth looms

This year’s snow season in Australia is running well below average.

However, that might be starting to change as snow depths at top elevations close in on the one-metre mark.

The latest measurement at NSW’s Spencers Creek, taken at 1830 metres up, showed a snowpack of 94.5cm, a slight gain of about seven centimetres from last week.

While last week’s heavy weekend rain washed up parts of the snowpack, fresh snow on Monday and Tuesday helped top it back up.

Although that slight relief may be short-lived as a warm spell approached the alpine region.

With no significant snow forecast until at least late next week, that poses a tough outlook for skiers and local businesses in the state’s high country.

The season kicked off promising when a pre-season dump of snow hit right before the King’s Birthday long weekend in June but warm, rainy weather erased it almost immediately.

By the following month, Spencers Creek had no measurable snow at all, the second time that has happened since 1954.

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While July did bring cooler conditions, dryness limited the amount of snowfall recovery made.

Though three separate snowfalls helped revive the season, total depths hovered around 70 cm heading into August, falling short of the usual 120cm mid-season average.

This month brought decent snowfalls to resorts like Thredbo and Charlotte’s Pass. However, the snowpack still remains thinner than usual.

If no major storms hit before the month ends, 2026 could join 1982 and 2006 as only the third season on record where the snow base fails to reach one metre, a tell-tale sign of an El Niño year.