Grey nomads in many parts of the country are being warned to brace themselves for another bone-chilling week.
The Guardian newspaper reports that on the east coast, from Tasmania to Queensland, minimum temperatures of about 5C below seasonal averages.
Yesterday morning, it says the temperature at Brisbane airport dipped to 2.7C – the coldest observation at the site since 2014. Tasmania’s Ouse had its chilliest start since 2015, with the temperature sitting at just -6.4C.
Adelaide was 2.7C, well below its average minimum of 7.6C, while the South Australian town of Yunta was -4.5C, a good 7C below its average minimum of 3.1C.
It's been pretty chilly in many parts of the country. PIC: Wild0ne / Pixabay
The Bureau of Meteorology says more cold and frosty mornings could be expected across NSW up until mid-week.
“The cold snap is nothing unusual, but the minimum temperatures reaching that low is unusual,” BOM meteorologist Jiwon Park told the ABC.
He said the cold snap could topple records in parts of central and southern NSW, with places like Temora, in the state’s south west, expected to have hit -7C this morning.
The towns of Young, Forbes, and Parkes were also expected to freeze.
More broadly, the ABC reports that several regions’ minimum temperatures will drop well below the average for the season.
Wagga Wagga was expected to wake up to -6C, while Orange and Blayney could drop to -4C, and Tamworth -3C.
The ABC said the same cold front has caused weather records in Queensland this week as temperatures fell three to six degrees below July averages.
Dalby was the coldest place in the Sunshine State yesterday morning, with a record low of -4C.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s, Angus Hines, told the Guardian that polar air travelling on the heels of a cold front that moved across the south-east of the country had combined with clear and settled conditions to create a frosty blast.
“It’s just a perfect recipe for cold overnight temperatures,” he said, before warning that further cold snaps could be in the cards. “We’re not even at the start of August – definitely we’ve still got the capability to have another pulse of cold conditions before we start to see the climb into spring.”
And, on the other side of the country, Perth Now reports that a severe weather event is set to smash parts of WA this week, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning it will arrive ‘with a bit of a bang’.
Meteorologist Angus Hines said the cold front was expected to hit Perth tomorrow evening, and warned people in the city to expect a more brutal storm than normal.
“Once we get to the evening and into the night, that’s when that cold front will arrive and it’s going to bring with it a bit of a bang as well,” he told Perth Now. “Rain with some pockets of heavy falls, thunderstorms including some severe thunderstorms which could bring us damaging wind gusts, lightning, thunder and hail all possible.”
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