‘Winter has arrived': Brisbane, Sydney hit with coldest morning of the year

West Australian

2 days ago

Millions woke to an icy chill on Thursday morning as a polar snap blanketed much of the southeast coast, marking the coldest morning of the year for Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane.
The first week of winter has arrived in Australia in spectacular fashion, with a pressure system and southerly wind bringing cold air and frost to Sydney and spreading into South East Queensland and much of Victoria.
Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Jonathan How said the polar conditions were just the beginning.
'We're already sort of feeling the chill across much of eastern Australia,' he told NewsWire, adding it was already stretching into neighbouring states.
'Yesterday was very cold in Sydney and then this morning we've had some very cold temperatures, particularly through the Darling Downs and also inland parts of NSW,' Mr How said.
Overnight, temperatures dipped to a chilly 0C in Oakey, 1C in Dalby and 3C in Toowoomba, but conditions were even colder in NSW, plummeting to -7C at Goulburn Airport and across the coast.
Sydney woke to a teeth-chattering 7C on Thursday morning, nearly 2C lower than the June average and marking one of the iciest mornings of the year.
It was an exceptionally chilly start to the day for Canberra, which recorded -4C on Thursday morning.
Temperatures dipped to an icy 4C in Melbourne, also dropping past the 5.3C average for the month.
Thursday morning was the coldest for residents in Queensland, with a polar blast so intense that some residents in southern Queensland could be hit with a rare sight of snow.
'Winter has arrived,' Mr How told NewsWire.
The chill is set to stick around for the several more days as the icy blast spreads into Victoria and parts of Queensland.
'We are expecting to see some very wintry conditions coming through for NSW and Victoria,' Mr How said. 'Queensland will see that cold air really pushing in later the week, on the weekend and into sort of early next week.'
While the skies will be dry for most of the week in Sydney and Brisbane until Saturday, the cold front is expected to trigger thunderstorms, widespread rain, frost and 'lots of snow'.
'We'll see some snowfall from across the Central Tablelands to the west of Sydney on Monday,' Mr How told NewsWire.
'Then by Monday night, that cold air will stretch all the way up into the tablelands.'
Between Thursday and Tuesday, Mr How said there could be between 60cm and 70cm of snow across the alpine resorts, spanning Perisher, Thredbo, Mount Hotham, Falls Creek and Mount Buller.
'(It's) really good news for the start of the ski season,' Mr How said. 'It would be very windy, so we would see blizzard conditions as well, but very good news for the ski resorts.'
As the ski season kicks off on the King's Birthday long weekend, it's not just the tourist alpine regions set to be blanketed with snow – Queensland may also witness a rare sight of snowfall in the southern regions.
Snow and flurries are forecast to settle in the southern regions of Queensland, with a forecast of 14mm of snow to fall from late Monday to Tuesday.
'We'll see minimums getting down to below 5C along southern Queensland,' Mr How told NewsWire. 'Brisbane will get pretty cold as well.'
Brisbane residents can get used to the cold mornings, with temperatures forecast to dip to single digits for 'some of those mornings next week', though there will be very little chance of rain.
While it's not particularly rare for parts of southern Queensland to experience a cold snap, Mr How said the timings aligned perfectly with the first week of winter.
'(The conditions) are not out of the ordinary, but given how mild it has been across Queensland (recently), it might be a bit of a shock to the system,' he said.
It's a good time to take out the blankets and slippers, as cold conditions are set to stick around for several days.
'It'll stay cool across Queensland for much of the week with those cooler southwesterly winds but mostly dry,' he said, adding temperatures would start to creep back up by the second half of next week.
For NSW and Victoria, however, the icy temperatures are likely to continue for much of next week.
'So certainly winter has arrived,' Mr How said.
Brisbane residents will feel the chill on Thursday morning but conditions will improve in the afternoon, with sunny skies and a top of 21C.
Sydney residents can anticipate a mostly sunny day, with clouds and a slight chance of a shower in the morning near the coast, reaching a top of 17C.
It's frosty and a cold morning in Canberra, with light winds and sunny skies and a maximum temperature of 14C.
Melbourne residents are also in for a frosty and cold day, with light winds and partly cloudy skies, reaching a top of 15C.
It's cloudy skies, frost in the east and a possible shower in the early morning for Hobart, reaching a maximum of 13C.
It will be a wet day for Adelaide, with a medium chance of showers in the evening and cloudy skies, with a top of 17C.
Perth residents can expect a partly cloudy day with a medium chance of showers and a maximum of 20C.
It will be mostly sunny in Darwin, with light winds and a top of 31C.