First 2026 Snowfall in Southern Africa As 2036 Southern Hemisphere Season Start Nears
First 2026 Snowfall in Southern Africa As 2036 Southern Hemisphere Season Start Nears
Published : 08-May-2026 12:34
Afriski resort in Lesotho has reported subzero temperatures and its first snowfall of the autumn as the start of the southern hemisphere's season later this month rapidly approaches.
Snowfall has also been reported in the past 36 hours on two other southern hemisphere continents with ski areas. The south american Andes saw snowfall with Portillo, which opens next month, posting its first snowfall of the autumn.
There was also the second snowfalls ahead of the season in Australia. This was Mount Buller yesterday.
"There's nothing quite like fresh snow to get the stoke levels rising for the season ahead," said Sarah Gamon, Marketing Coordinator at Falls Creek, which reported temperatures dipped as low as –5.4C overnight.
"Having the snowguns firing up is an exciting milestone, giving our team the chance to fine tune systems and get everything dialled in ahead of the season. It's a strong signal that winter conditions are starting to line up, and our snowmaking team is ready to go when the time comes," Sarah added.
In fact one New Zealand ski area, Hamner Springs, already opened for two days earlier this month after heavy snowfall, although it closed again after a thaw.
The southern hemisphere's ski season proper is expected to kick off in four weeks time unless early heavy snowfall berings forwatd opening dates.
A growing number of southern hemisphere resorts are joining centres like Australia's Mt Buller and New Zealand's Whakapapa, which have run all weather snowmaking machines for many years to guarantee opening small areas of snow for beginners, terrain park features and snow play as early as late May. Australia's Corin Forest has been offering snow play since early April thanks to theirs. The picture below was taken on 6 April.
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