Estimation and analysis of snow cover in the Snowy Mountains between 1910 and 1991

An empirical model has been developed to estimate the annual snow cover at Spencer's Creek in the Snowy Mountains from 1910 to1968, based on historical monthly precipitation and temperature data. These results, together with field measurements by the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority from 1954 to 1991, provide a data set spanning 82 years, with the inability to validate pre-1910 data precluding the estimation of the snow cover from earlier periods. The depth of snow through a season defines the snow profile, and the integral of this profile has been used as the measure of a season's cover. Analysis of the values of the integrated profile indicates no significant linear trend. The interannual variability has been quantified, and the characteristics of the distribution of the values of the integrated profile derived. The long-term nature of the snow cover is discussed in terms of four regimes of snowfalls evident from inspection of the data.