Well, this wasn’t the way it was advertised on the grey nomad brochure! Not only do travellers suddenly have to keep an eye on ever-changing border restrictions again, now many have also got to deal with arctic-like temperatures!
A serious chill has descended on southern parts of Queensland, with predictions cold-weather records could tumble this week.
The ABC reports that a large high moving across southeast Australia, combining with a low in the southern Tasman, is leading to strong winds across south-east Queensland as well as a burst of cool and dry air across the state.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Felin Hannify said wind gusts of up to 60 kilometres an hour would add to the cold.
“For Toowoomba, a high of nine degrees today is going to feel like sub-five given the strength of the wind,” he told the ABC.
Mr Hannify said the cold temperatures would continue, with some areas predicted to record their coldest ever July morning on Thursday.
“The records go back as far as 1995 in parts of the Maranoa Warrego,” he said.
Some airborne snowflakes observed near Eukey.
Weather chaser Ken Kato, who travelled from Brisbane to Eukey on the Granite Belt, managed to record some flakes.
“The potential for proper snowflakes was always looking touch and go, so it was really great to see them float,” he told the ABC. “There weren’t that many, and it was mixed in with sleet and snow grains and rain drops as well – but it still counts.”
Mr Kato described the wind at Eukey as ‘brutal.
“The windchill was probably next level even for this area’s standards,” he said. “I was outside for a few minutes at a time, and my hands basically lost all sensation after a few minutes.”
He said it was one of the coldest days he has ever experienced.
No I don’t like the cold either. I’ve worked in -30C zero humidity and +50C 100% humidity. Neither is nice and some people even live on the Siberian plains ranging from +50 to -50C so I understand, They must get acclimatised over time. I remember being surprised to discover (my first time in central Australia), that after an incredibly hot day, it then went down below zero some nights. I think as we get older, our bodies become less tolerant to large and fast temperature swings.
We were camped at the Robinson Gorge campground in Expedition National Park and awoke to -5 degrees on the morning of the 22nd July.
All our water taps were frozen solid on the jerry cans and water tank as well as the campground tap which was black poly-pipe with a tap above ground gravity-fed from the tank beside the drop toilet. Brrr it was nippy!