Relief is on the way for the remainder of winter after parts of Australia shivered through the coldest seasonal weather in decades, with minimum temperatures dropping to -8C in some alpine areas.
Dr Paul Feikema, a senior hydrologist at the Bureau of Meteorology said warmer than average days and nights were expected for most of the country through to spring.
“July rainfall is likely to be below average across parts of Australia’s south-east and south-west,” he said.
“Daytime temperatures for July to September are likely to be above average for much of the country. However, above average temperatures are less likely for inland areas, aligning with forecasts, wetter than average conditions and associated cloud cover.”
The averaged mean minimum temperature for June in New South Wales was 4.1C, or 0.51C below the 1961-1990 average, while it also experienced the lowest minimum temperature for the state since 2006, a BoM spokesperson said.
Three sites in NSW recorded their coldest June night on record, including Tumbarumba, on the edge of the Snowy Mountains, which fell to -8C, the alpine town of Khancoban, which fell to -4.5C, and Nowra, which dropped to 0.4C.
Canberra Airport also experienced its lowest daily minimum temperature on record, at a frigid -7.6C.
The area-averaged rainfall total in NSW for June was just 21.4mm, 39% below the 1961–1990 average.
Queensland’s averaged mean minimum temperature for June was 9.9C, which is 0.1C below the 1961-1990 average and the lowest June minimum temperature for the state since 2012.
“Cold fronts as well as clear skies associated with high pressure systems resulted in cooler mornings for periods of June for parts of the east,” the BoM spokesperson said.
The Northern Territory also experienced its coldest June minimum temperatures since 2012, with mean minimum temperatures below or very much below average for large parts of the Territory, while Victoria was hit with its coldest June minimum temperatures since 2017.
Victoria’s averaged mean minimum temperature was 3.75C, 0.52C below the 1961–1990 average.
Bendigo Airport had its coolest June day on record on 21 June, with a maximum temperature of just 6.3C, while Wangaratta in the state’s north-east had its lowest June mean maximum temperature on record (12.6C).
Dean Narramore, a meteorologist at the BoM, said the cold weather was expected to continue in coming days, predicting a strong cold front with damaging winds, widespread rain and alpine snow to come to south-eastern parts of Australia in the next 24 hours.
“We’re seeing moderate to heavy falls to the Adelaide area and welcome rainfall for much of southern South Australia after what’s been a very dry few months,” he said.
“Then it’ll continue moving eastwards into western parts of Victoria this afternoon … that’s going to bring widespread showers with local thunder and hail.”
Severe weather warnings were in place on Wednesday afternoon for the Flinders and Mount Lofty ranges, as well as western parts of SA, with winds in excess of 90km/h expected.
From Wednesday evening, the system was expected to sweep across to NSW and northern parts of Tasmania, bringing rain, wild winds and possible blizzards in alpine areas.
Overall, the national average mean temperature in June was 0.29C above the 1961–1990 average, largely due to mean maximum temperatures that were above average for Tasmania, western and northern SA, much of Western Australia and parts of the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland.
In WA, June’s averaged mean maximum temperature of 23.6C was the seventh-warmest on record since national observations started in 1910.
Mean minimum temperatures were above average for parts of southern Australia and northern Queensland and below average across parts of the east and north of the country.
