Parts of Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria are experiencing their coldest start to winter in decades, with temperatures expected to remain low due to a polar air mass sweeping across Australia next week.
According to Dean Narramore, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, the past week has seen temperatures in south-eastern Australia fall 2°C to 5°C below the winter average.
Record low temperatures were recorded in several locations, including Thangool and Tambo in Queensland, and Omeo, Viewbank, and Echuca in Victoria.
Omeo hit -6.4°C, the coldest June temperature in 29 years, while Melbourne airport recorded its coldest June morning in 28 years at 0.2°C, as reported by Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino.
Melbourne and Sydney shiver through their coldest mornings as a new cold front nears.On Wednesday, Melbourne and Sydney experienced their coldest morning of the year, and Mount Hotham airport recorded -8.3°C on Thursday, the coldest temperature in Victoria since 2018. Narramore noted that the southeastern regions of Australia have not seen such cold conditions at the start of winter in several years.
The cold weather is attributed to a low-pressure system in the Tasman Sea and a high-pressure system in the Great Australian Bight. This combination has driven southerly winds across southern and eastern Australia, reaching northern Queensland and causing frost as far north as Mackay and Townsville.
The forecast includes more frost across all states except Western Australia on Sunday morning. A new cold front is expected to bring more cold weather, showers, and gusty winds from Tuesday to Thursday, potentially delivering 10-20 cm of snow to Victoria and NSW’s Alpine regions.
A larger weather system will move through Western Australia and across the country by the end of next week. Following the winter solstice, Australia will see increasing daylight each day leading up to summer.