Grey nomads who haven’t yet headed north from the south-eastern states are probably wishing they’d packed up the van a little earlier.
A bone-numbing winter chill has descended upon large parts of the country, bringing with it ‘how to stay warm’ headaches for under-prepared travellers.
Meteorologists say Sydney and Canberra shivered through their coldest June mornings in more than a decade. The national capital’s minimum of -7.2C was its lowest June temperature since 1986, and Sydney CBD’s of 5.2C. was the city’s coldest June morning since 2010. Melbourne dropped to 4.2°C, which was its lowest temperature since September last year.
The Guardian reports that, outside the capital cities, several places registered their lowest temperature in five years.
Good morning, Goulburn! It was a chilly one for grey nomads still in the south-east. PIC: Cizza
“Bathurst (-7.5C), Mudgee (-6.9C), Orange (-6.6C), Dubbo (-4.7C), Campbelltown (-1.6C), Casino (-0.2C) and Gayndah (0.3C) all had their coldest morning in five years,” Ben Domensino, a meteorologist at Weatherzone, told the newspaper. “Perisher Valley’s -10.1ºC was Australia’s lowest June temperature since 2019. Tocal’s -0.3C was its lowest June temperature in records dating back to 1970.”
Mr Domensino told the Guardian that temperatures had plunged 10C below average for this time of year.
“We have a high-pressure system moving over south-eastern Australia, which will be causing clear skies, light winds and there’s a lingering cold air mass as well,” he said. “So those three things combined will lead to very cold overnight and early morning temperatures … widespread frost is expected to develop from Tasmania right up to central Queensland, including large areas of New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT.”
Meteorologist James Rout told the Sydney Morning Herald that, despite an El Nino weather pattern looming – which drives warmer and drier temperatures – it can mean that mornings are cooler.
However, Weatherzone predicts that tomorrow morning won’t be quite as cold thanks to likely cloud cover overnight.
Chilling tale! Grey nomads recall trip’s ‘coldest night’
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It really helps if you have the heater switch close to the bed on these mornings. Diesel heater has the entire van toasty in 20 minutes. To me, that’s the real meaning of being totally equipped for the Australian weather systems.
No need for us to worry now that the tipping point has been reached five years after Greta warned that it was coming.