Alpine Resorts Record July Warm Spell Forecast to End by Mid-Week

Alpine ski resorts in New South Wales and Victoria recorded maximum temperatures up to 12 °C above average during the weekend of 18-19 July 2026. Multiple sites set new July records for daytime and night-time temperatures, The Guardian reported. Mount Hotham reached 12 °C on Sunday, breaking the previous July daily maximum of 8.7 °C set in 1994.

The same location recorded a night-time low of 4.6 °C. Falls Creek hit 13 °C on Sunday after recording 11.5 °C on Saturday, surpassing its prior July maximum of 9.8 °C from 1992. Both sites also logged night-time records of 4.6 °C.

Cabramurra reached 14.3 °C and Mount William 15.2 °C. Night-time records included 5.7 °C at Mount Buller, 12 °C at Mount Baw Baw and 9.4 °C at Mount William.

2 °C at Falls Creek. The official record at Mount Hotham extends back 36 years and has now been broken three times in July 2026. An El Niño is present in the tropical Pacific.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s long-range forecast had indicated drier and warmer conditions for alpine regions during winter 2026. Angus Hines, senior forecaster at the bureau, attributed the spike to a slow-moving high-pressure system that produced clear skies and descending dry air, creating a temperature inversion.

Hines said warmer-than-usual temperatures would persist in ski areas until about Wednesday 22 July, with a chance of snow flurries the following weekend before temperatures rise again early the week after.

The Australian ski season began in early June 2026. Resorts have relied primarily on snow-making technology after only sporadic natural snowfalls. Dr Andrew Watkins of the Climate Council skied at Mount Hotham on Friday.