Snow has fallen in Australia's alpine regions just days after the country's hottest and driest month was recorded.
Heavy snow has landed at Mt Hotham, Falls Creek and Perisher after the resorts had to have one of the "earliest ever closures" of the ski season at the beginning of September.
Vision shows resorts at Hotham, Falls Creek and Perisher covered in a thick blanket of snow.
Weatherzone said cold air behind a front arrived in time to combine with the last few hours of available moisture to create the snow.
"Locals in the Victorian high country reported three or four centimetres on the ground, with similar totals in NSW," Weatherzone said.
"The weather looks to moderate by the weekend as a large high-pressure system brings stable conditions, although temperatures will stay cool due to southerly winds, and the flood danger will remain high in many rivers for some time."
September's dry conditions were a worrying sign of what's to come under an El Nino weather system.
Weatherzone reported that Australia averaged just 4.88mm of rain for the entire month.
It's not only a record for the month, but one of the lowest monthly totals on record at all, going back to 1900.
Australia had a meager snow season, causing most ski resorts to close at the beginning of September, while snow seasons in other years have typically carried through until the first weekend of October,
