Latest news with #JamesPreston
Sky News AU
10-07-2025
- Climate
- Sky News AU
'Really healthy': Welcoming snow upwards of 30cm for Australian ski fields aligns in time for school holiday goers
Weekend conditions for Australian ski fields are forecast to be powdery and dry, bringing welcome news to families heading to the snow these school holidays. A dumping of dry and powdery snow has hit the Australian alps just in time for the weekend. Sky News Weather Presenter James Preston said alpine resorts received a good dusting leading into Friday. 'Just under 30cm, a good dusting for many of our alpine resorts,' Preston said. 'Throughout the day blizzard conditions, very strong conditions for those elevated terrains and of course the snow continuing to fall. 'A really healthy dumping in the past 24 to 48 hours. 'Now it does quiet down a fair bit into Friday though, you can see here very little on the cards.' Conditions across ski resorts have been the best in years, aligning perfectly for the school holidays. 'Super excited. Honestly, it's one of the best starts we have had in the last few years and it's only going to keep coming,' Hotham Marketing Coordinator Alex Pankiw said. In Victoria, Mt Hotham received 21cm on Thursday, Mt Buller recorded 17cm and Falls Creek had 22cm. In New South Wales, Perisher received 24cm of snowfall with temperatures dipping to -2.4C and Thredbo recorded 17cm. Preston said most snowfall on Friday will primarily be in Tasmania. 'Elevated regions up in Tassie looking quite nice, they will get a decent little dumping across Friday itself,' he said. 'No where near as much in Victoria and into NSW.' National forecast for Friday Sydney is looking at a sunny day with highs of 19C with 25 to 45km/h westerly winds floating about. Showers are lingering for the south-east of the country with Melbourne and Adelaide both sitting at 16C. Hobart can expect a cool 12C with a chance of light showers. Cloudy for Canberra with a cool 11C on the cards. A late cold front is forecast to converge through Perth with significant rainfall expected on Saturday. Western Australia's capital is forecast to hit 20C. Brisbane will be clear at 21C, and Darwin is forecast for a warm 31C.
Sky News AU
05-06-2025
- Climate
- Sky News AU
'Plenty of frost': Freezing conditions set to grip nation's east coast with snow on the way ahead of ski season
Australia's east coast is set to see "plenty of frost" in the coming days as freezing conditions take hold, with Victorians also told to brace for "damaging winds". Winter is beginning to bite, with residents in some parts of the country having already braved cold and wet weather throughout the week. Those in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania have been warned more is on the way, with Sky News Weather Presenter James Preston revealing "polar air" was set to stick around over Friday and beyond. "High pressure is the dominant force, so that's allowing for very clear skies. So, all that upper air, the very cold upper air, continues to shift down all the way to ground level, mixed in with polar air coming from Antarctica and it's really been just drifting into the south-east of the country and even up as far as Queensland," he said. "So very, very chilly conditions, ultimately the perfect conditions to ensure that we have that chill in the morning between the clear skies and the polar air as well, and as I mentioned it's not really going anywhere either." Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, and Sydney are all facing cold starts on Friday, with Preston explaining locals as far as parts of Western Australia could expect to see frost on the ground. "There's also plenty of frost still floating about for Friday morning," he said. "Tasmania is seeing it, Victoria, so too New South Wales up into Queensland, potentially even as far north as Mount Isa, and even locations in WA could see some frost, so that chill certainly sticking around into Friday and thereafter as well." At higher altitudes, the freezing conditions also look set to produce the first substantive snowfalls ahead of this year's ski season. Falls Creek is expected to receive 56cm of snow, with falls beginning Friday and continuing over the weekend, while Mount Buller is expected to see 47cm, Hotham 56cm, and Parishire and Thredbo 65cm. In addition to the cold, Victorians are also facing the potential for "damaging winds" over Friday, as well as the chance of showers in the state's west. "What we will see in addition to all of that chilly stuff and the frost floating about is damaging winds pushing through Victoria," Preston said. "That begins Friday morning and it's going to extend from central locations further to the east and they are going to be quite wild at times as well." According to the Bureau of Meteorology, damaging winds of between 50 and 65 km/h are possible from late Friday morning across parts of the Central, East Gippsland, North Central, North East, West and South Gippsland, and South West Forecast Districts. Gusts may approach 100km/h in parts of the north-east ranges, before the blustery conditions ease overnight and dissipate over Saturday.
