Snowy Mountains · backcountry conditions

A data board, not a verdict. Every value carries its source — you make the call.

Generated Sun 16 Aug 2026, 19:30 (local)

Official avalanche hazard — human-required

This dashboard never computes or restates an avalanche danger rating. Read the Mountain Safety Collective report before entering backcountry terrain.

Main Range report 2026-08-16 (today)
Dividing Range: report 2026-08-16 (today)

MSC report →

Measured now — alpine AWS

OBS

BOM station observations, never blended with the forecast. Arrows: change vs the same station ~3 h ago (measured, no model). No sensor sits on the Main Range itself. Station names link to BOM's own obs pages.

Overnight at Thredbo Top Station: min 0.4° at 18:20 · thawed yesterday, no refreeze — wet pack overnight

Thredbo Top Station 1957 m

10 min ago

0.7° ▼1.7°/3h feels -4° · 15 NE (20 g) km/h ▲4/3h · 99% RH · 0.0 mm since 9am

Perisher Valley 1738 m

10 min ago

2.1° ▼0.9°/3h feels 0° · 4 NE (7 g) km/h ▼3/3h · 100% RH · 0.0 mm since 9am

Cabramurra 1482 m

10 min ago

4.2° ▼2.1°/3h feels -4° · 37 ESE (46 g) km/h ▲13/3h · 94% RH · 0.0 mm since 9am

Thredbo Village 1380 m · Non-AWS

5 h ago

8.5° feels 6° · 7 S (? g) km/h · 68% RH · 0.0 mm since 9am

Base depth — Spencers Creek snow course (1830 m)

Canonical AU base-depth record (manual, ~weekly). No machine-readable value — open the chart. Measured below the ridge; there is no depth sensor on the Main Range itself.

chart →

Live wind map

animated · wind

Map by Windy.com · drag/zoom to explore; the marker sits on the Main Range.

Blue Lake

freezing 1930–2250 m

freezing level 1930–2250 m · 0.10 m base · derived flags: poor visibility / whiteout, icy surface (melt-freeze), wet-loose warming (high)

⚠ models diverge: cloud 8 vs 100% (best-match vs ICON) — trust those numbers less

1890 m · loads NE · board for 2026-08-17 · 06:00-18:00 local

hour temp chill wind dir gust vis cloud precip snow frz.lvl
06:00 -5° -8° 3 E 14 3.2k 13 0.0 0.0 1980
07:00 -5° -9° 4 E 16 1.0k 18 0.0 0.0 1940
08:00 -2° -5° 5 E 18 73.8k 23 0.0 0.0 1940
09:00 -1° 3 ENE 18 7.6k 5 0.0 0.0 1930
10:00 3 ENE 18 7.8k 5 0.0 0.0 1960
11:00 3 ENE 18 8.5k 8 0.0 0.0 2040
12:00 2 ENE 18 10.1k 8 0.0 0.0 2130
13:00 2 NE 18 11.9k 9 0.0 0.0 2190
14:00 1 NE 16 11.9k 16 0.0 0.0 2230
15:00 1 NE 14 9.1k 43 0.0 0.0 2250
16:00 2 NE 16 83.4k 43 0.0 0.0 2240
17:00 -1° 3 E 17 78.4k 82 0.0 0.0 2220
18:00 -1° -4° 4 E 19 75.3k 20 0.0 0.0 2160

▲ poor visibility / whiteout — high severity

poor — visibility 960 m (<1 km) — navigation + terrain assessment hard; whiteout is a leading AU rescue cause. Carry a compass/GPS bearing plan and known bail lines.

▲ icy surface (melt-freeze) — watch severity

melt-freeze: 2.1 °C at 09:00 then -1.1 °C at 18:00 — expect bulletproof/rime crust. Crampons + ice axe; firm slips are a top AU injury cause.

▲ wet-loose warming — high severity

warming -5.2→5.9 °C through the day — wet-loose / point-release on sun-warmed N/NW/W aspects. Tour early, be off steep solar slopes by early afternoon.

derived weather signals, NOT an official avalanche forecast

Source: open-meteo/best-match · fetched 0 min ago · forecast (FCST), not measured. Check it: raw forecast · raw ICON · Windy here

Charlotte Pass

freezing 1930–2250 m

freezing level 1930–2250 m · 0.11 m base · derived flags: poor visibility / whiteout, icy surface (melt-freeze), wet-loose warming (high)

⚠ models diverge: cloud 7 vs 100% (best-match vs ICON) — trust those numbers less

1760 m · loads NE · board for 2026-08-17 · 06:00-18:00 local

hour temp chill wind dir gust vis cloud precip snow frz.lvl
06:00 -4° -8° 2 NNW 6 2.3k 14 0.0 0.0 1980
07:00 -5° -8° 2 NNW 6 1.0k 13 0.0 0.0 1940
08:00 -2° -5° 3 N 7 0.8k 15 0.0 0.0 1940
09:00 -2° 4 NE 14 5.8k 8 0.0 0.0 1930
10:00 5 NE 18 5.9k 8 0.0 0.0 1960
11:00 7 ENE 20 6.5k 9 0.0 0.0 2040
12:00 7 ENE 22 8.9k 7 0.0 0.0 2130
13:00 7 ENE 22 12.7k 5 0.0 0.0 2190
14:00 6 ENE 21 23.3k 16 0.0 0.0 2230
15:00 8 ENE 22 82.2k 42 0.0 0.0 2250
16:00 8 ENE 23 79.9k 22 0.0 0.0 2240
17:00 -1° 6 E 22 77.0k 16 0.0 0.0 2220
18:00 -1° -4° 3 NE 14 76.9k 5 0.0 0.0 2160

▲ poor visibility / whiteout — high severity

poor — visibility 800 m (<1 km) — navigation + terrain assessment hard; whiteout is a leading AU rescue cause. Carry a compass/GPS bearing plan and known bail lines.

▲ icy surface (melt-freeze) — watch severity

melt-freeze: 1.8 °C at 09:00 then -0.8 °C at 18:00 — expect bulletproof/rime crust. Crampons + ice axe; firm slips are a top AU injury cause.

▲ wet-loose warming — high severity

warming -4.7→5.4 °C through the day — wet-loose / point-release on sun-warmed N/NW/W aspects. Tour early, be off steep solar slopes by early afternoon.

derived weather signals, NOT an official avalanche forecast

Source: open-meteo/best-match · fetched 0 min ago · forecast (FCST), not measured. Check it: raw forecast · raw ICON · Windy here

Dead Horse Gap / Rams Head

freezing 2010–2280 m

freezing level 2010–2280 m · 0.03 m base · derived flags: icy surface (melt-freeze), wet-loose warming (high)

⚠ models diverge: cloud 5 vs 100% (best-match vs ICON) — trust those numbers less

1580 m · loads SE · board for 2026-08-17 · 06:00-18:00 local

hour temp chill wind dir gust vis cloud precip snow frz.lvl
06:00 -4° -7° 4 N 10 3.0k 7 0.0 0.0 2080
07:00 -4° -7° 3 NNE 9 1.5k 5 0.0 0.0 2070
08:00 -3° 6 NNE 14 1.1k 5 0.0 0.0 2050
09:00 4 ENE 16 5.1k 4 0.0 0.0 2030
10:00 4 ENE 17 12.3k 4 0.0 0.0 2010
11:00 4 ENE 19 12.0k 5 0.0 0.0 2070
12:00 5 ENE 20 12.8k 5 0.0 0.0 2140
13:00 5 ENE 20 14.1k 13 0.0 0.0 2200
14:00 4 ENE 20 10.5k 60 0.0 0.0 2250
15:00 5 ENE 20 9.4k 78 0.0 0.0 2280
16:00 10 ENE 26 10.9k 72 0.0 0.0 2260
17:00 6 E 26 12.5k 30 0.0 0.0 2240
18:00 -1° -4° 4 NNE 14 13.0k 7 0.0 0.0 2200

▲ icy surface (melt-freeze) — watch severity

melt-freeze: 3.3 °C at 09:00 then -0.6 °C at 18:00 — expect bulletproof/rime crust. Crampons + ice axe; firm slips are a top AU injury cause.

▲ wet-loose warming — high severity

warming -3.5→7.2 °C through the day — wet-loose / point-release on sun-warmed N/NW/W aspects. Tour early, be off steep solar slopes by early afternoon.

derived weather signals, NOT an official avalanche forecast

Source: open-meteo/best-match · fetched 0 min ago · forecast (FCST), not measured. Check it: raw forecast · raw ICON · Windy here

Guthega access

freezing 1930–2250 m

freezing level 1930–2250 m · 0.01 m base · derived flags: poor visibility / whiteout, wet-loose warming (high)

⚠ models diverge: cloud 6 vs 100% (best-match vs ICON) — trust those numbers less

1640 m · loads NE · board for 2026-08-17 · 06:00-18:00 local

hour temp chill wind dir gust vis cloud precip snow frz.lvl
06:00 -2° -5° 2 NW 6 1.8k 33 0.0 0.0 1980
07:00 -2° -5° 2 WNW 5 0.8k 30 0.0 0.0 1940
08:00 -1° -4° 3 NW 11 0.3k 96 0.0 0.0 1940
09:00 -1° 4 NE 15 2.7k 12 0.0 0.0 1930
10:00 7 ENE 20 4.1k 13 0.0 0.0 1960
11:00 9 ENE 25 7.8k 11 0.0 0.0 2040
12:00 10 ENE 27 15.8k 6 0.0 0.0 2130
13:00 10 ENE 27 80.9k 8 0.0 0.0 2190
14:00 10 E 27 81.0k 7 0.0 0.0 2230
15:00 11 ENE 28 81.0k 22 0.0 0.0 2250
16:00 10 ENE 28 81.0k 17 0.0 0.0 2240
17:00 7 E 23 78.5k 36 0.0 0.0 2220
18:00 -2° 2 E 15 75.4k 3 0.0 0.0 2160

▲ poor visibility / whiteout — high severity

poor — visibility 320 m (<1 km) — navigation + terrain assessment hard; whiteout is a leading AU rescue cause. Carry a compass/GPS bearing plan and known bail lines.

▲ wet-loose warming — high severity

warming -2.5→7 °C through the day — wet-loose / point-release on sun-warmed N/NW/W aspects. Tour early, be off steep solar slopes by early afternoon.

derived weather signals, NOT an official avalanche forecast

Source: open-meteo/best-match · fetched 0 min ago · forecast (FCST), not measured. Check it: raw forecast · raw ICON · Windy here

Main Range (Kosciuszko)

freezing 2010–2280 m

freezing level 2010–2280 m · 0.01 m base · derived flags: icy surface (melt-freeze), wet-loose warming (watch)

⚠ models diverge: cloud 2 vs 100% (best-match vs ICON) — trust those numbers less

2228 m · loads E · board for 2026-08-17 · 06:00-18:00 local

hour temp chill wind dir gust vis cloud precip snow frz.lvl
06:00 -6° -10° 4 E 18 66.6k 7 0.0 0.0 2080
07:00 -6° -10° 5 E 20 3.9k 7 0.0 0.0 2070
08:00 -3° -6° 5 E 21 1.4k 5 0.0 0.0 2050
09:00 -2° 3 NE 20 7.9k 2 0.0 0.0 2030
10:00 -1° 1 NNE 17 12.5k 2 0.0 0.0 2010
11:00 2 N 17 13.0k 2 0.0 0.0 2070
12:00 3 NNW 16 13.2k 2 0.0 0.0 2140
13:00 4 NNW 17 11.1k 9 0.0 0.0 2200
14:00 5 NW 17 6.1k 45 0.0 0.0 2250
15:00 4 NNW 16 4.6k 65 0.0 0.0 2280
16:00 4 N 18 5.0k 65 0.0 0.0 2260
17:00 -2° 2 NE 18 5.7k 56 0.0 0.0 2240
18:00 -3° -6° 3 ENE 18 7.0k 34 0.0 0.0 2200

▲ icy surface (melt-freeze) — watch severity

melt-freeze: 1.1 °C at 09:00 then -2.6 °C at 18:00 — expect bulletproof/rime crust. Crampons + ice axe; firm slips are a top AU injury cause.

▲ wet-loose warming — watch severity

warming -6.5→4.8 °C through the day — wet-loose / point-release on sun-warmed N/NW/W aspects. Tour early, be off steep solar slopes by early afternoon.

derived weather signals, NOT an official avalanche forecast

Source: open-meteo/best-match · fetched 0 min ago · forecast (FCST), not measured. Check it: raw forecast · raw ICON · Windy here

Perisher access

freezing 1930–2250 m

freezing level 1930–2250 m · 0.01 m base · derived flags: poor visibility / whiteout, wet-loose warming (high)

⚠ models diverge: cloud 6 vs 100% (best-match vs ICON) — trust those numbers less

1720 m · loads E · board for 2026-08-17 · 06:00-18:00 local

hour temp chill wind dir gust vis cloud precip snow frz.lvl
06:00 -2° -5° 2 NW 6 1.8k 33 0.0 0.0 1980
07:00 -2° -5° 2 WNW 5 0.8k 30 0.0 0.0 1940
08:00 -1° -4° 3 NW 11 0.3k 96 0.0 0.0 1940
09:00 -1° 4 NE 15 2.7k 12 0.0 0.0 1930
10:00 7 ENE 20 4.1k 13 0.0 0.0 1960
11:00 9 ENE 25 7.8k 11 0.0 0.0 2040
12:00 10 ENE 27 15.8k 6 0.0 0.0 2130
13:00 10 ENE 27 80.9k 8 0.0 0.0 2190
14:00 10 E 27 81.0k 7 0.0 0.0 2230
15:00 11 ENE 28 81.0k 22 0.0 0.0 2250
16:00 10 ENE 28 81.0k 17 0.0 0.0 2240
17:00 7 E 23 78.5k 36 0.0 0.0 2220
18:00 -2° 2 E 15 75.4k 3 0.0 0.0 2160

▲ poor visibility / whiteout — high severity

poor — visibility 320 m (<1 km) — navigation + terrain assessment hard; whiteout is a leading AU rescue cause. Carry a compass/GPS bearing plan and known bail lines.

▲ wet-loose warming — high severity

warming -2.5→7 °C through the day — wet-loose / point-release on sun-warmed N/NW/W aspects. Tour early, be off steep solar slopes by early afternoon.

derived weather signals, NOT an official avalanche forecast

Source: open-meteo/best-match · fetched 0 min ago · forecast (FCST), not measured. Check it: raw forecast · raw ICON · Windy here

Watsons Crags

freezing 1950–2220 m

freezing level 1950–2220 m · 0.01 m base · derived flags: icy surface (melt-freeze), wet-loose warming (high)

⚠ models diverge: cloud 2 vs 84% (best-match vs ICON) — trust those numbers less

2100 m · loads E · board for 2026-08-17 · 06:00-18:00 local

hour temp chill wind dir gust vis cloud precip snow frz.lvl
06:00 -5° -8° 4 E 18 66.6k 7 0.0 0.0 2060
07:00 -5° -9° 5 E 20 3.9k 7 0.0 0.0 2060
08:00 -1° -5° 5 E 21 1.4k 5 0.0 0.0 2060
09:00 -1° 3 NE 20 7.9k 2 0.0 0.0 2050
10:00 1 NNE 17 12.5k 2 0.0 0.0 1950
11:00 2 N 17 13.0k 2 0.0 0.0 2010
12:00 3 NNW 16 13.2k 2 0.0 0.0 2100
13:00 4 NNW 17 11.1k 9 0.0 0.0 2160
14:00 5 NW 17 6.1k 45 0.0 0.0 2200
15:00 4 NNW 16 4.6k 65 0.0 0.0 2220
16:00 4 N 18 5.0k 65 0.0 0.0 2200
17:00 2 NE 18 5.7k 56 0.0 0.0 2210
18:00 -1° -4° 3 ENE 18 7.0k 34 0.0 0.0 2180

▲ icy surface (melt-freeze) — watch severity

melt-freeze: 2.7 °C at 09:00 then -1 °C at 18:00 — expect bulletproof/rime crust. Crampons + ice axe; firm slips are a top AU injury cause.

▲ wet-loose warming — high severity

warming -4.9→6.4 °C through the day — wet-loose / point-release on sun-warmed N/NW/W aspects. Tour early, be off steep solar slopes by early afternoon.

derived weather signals, NOT an official avalanche forecast

Source: open-meteo/best-match · fetched 0 min ago · forecast (FCST), not measured. Check it: raw forecast · raw ICON · Windy here

Western Faces

freezing 2010–2280 m

freezing level 2010–2280 m · 0.01 m base · derived flags: icy surface (melt-freeze), wet-loose warming (high)

⚠ models diverge: cloud 2 vs 100% (best-match vs ICON) — trust those numbers less

2050 m · loads E · board for 2026-08-17 · 06:00-18:00 local

hour temp chill wind dir gust vis cloud precip snow frz.lvl
06:00 -4° -8° 4 E 18 66.6k 7 0.0 0.0 2080
07:00 -5° -8° 5 E 20 3.9k 7 0.0 0.0 2070
08:00 -1° -4° 5 E 21 1.4k 5 0.0 0.0 2050
09:00 3 NE 20 7.9k 2 0.0 0.0 2030
10:00 1 NNE 17 12.5k 2 0.0 0.0 2010
11:00 2 N 17 13.0k 2 0.0 0.0 2070
12:00 3 NNW 16 13.2k 2 0.0 0.0 2140
13:00 4 NNW 17 11.1k 9 0.0 0.0 2200
14:00 5 NW 17 6.1k 45 0.0 0.0 2250
15:00 4 NNW 16 4.6k 65 0.0 0.0 2280
16:00 4 N 18 5.0k 65 0.0 0.0 2260
17:00 2 NE 18 5.7k 56 0.0 0.0 2240
18:00 -1° -4° 3 ENE 18 7.0k 34 0.0 0.0 2200

▲ icy surface (melt-freeze) — watch severity

melt-freeze: 3 °C at 09:00 then -0.7 °C at 18:00 — expect bulletproof/rime crust. Crampons + ice axe; firm slips are a top AU injury cause.

▲ wet-loose warming — high severity

warming -4.6→6.7 °C through the day — wet-loose / point-release on sun-warmed N/NW/W aspects. Tour early, be off steep solar slopes by early afternoon.

derived weather signals, NOT an official avalanche forecast

Source: open-meteo/best-match · fetched 0 min ago · forecast (FCST), not measured. Check it: raw forecast · raw ICON · Windy here

Cams

Perisher Valley

Community webcam (valley) · Webcam provided by Windy.com

Trailhead access

Road and park status change fast in the alpine — open these before you drive. Chain-fit and snow closures apply to Kosciuszko Rd and the Alpine Way in winter.

Road status: Transport for NSW Live Traffic (CC BY 4.0) · fetched 0 min ago

Daily reads — the humans who watch this mountain

human-authored sources — names, links and post dates only, never their content

Before you go

The morning read ends with the safety net, not just the weather. Chains must be carried in Kosciuszko NP in winter (4WD/AWD exempt); Kosciuszko Rd is closed Perisher→Charlotte Pass (oversnow only). The full pre-trip checklist lives in the repo (docs/FIELD-NOTES.md).

Source health

1 source(s) stale or unavailable

When each input last updated and whether this build reached it. link = human-required source we point to, never parse.