Parts of the country’s southern and eastern regions woke to subzero temperatures on Friday morning, with Brisbane dropping to 7.3C, its lowest temperature so far this year.
The mercury in parts of NSW dipped down to -4C – less than 2C off its lowest ever temperature, while Oakey, northwest of Toowoomba, dropped to -4C early this morning in conditions which felt like a horrifying -8.3C.
Parts of Queensland’s Darling Downs woke to a minimum temperature of -3.3C, which felt more like a freezing -5.8C, bringing an end to Queensland’s unseasonably warm weather which was running 4 to 6C above average earlier in the week.
Conditions for the Sunshine State took an icy turn on Thursday, with the Darling Downs recording temperatures as low as -3C, following several days in the mid-20s for Brisbane.
The chilly weather comes ahead of this year’s winter solstice, which typically falls between June 21-23.
“While there can be a bit of a lag, with July and August being our coldest months, post-solstice our days will be getting longer,” the BOM’s senior meteorologist, Dean Narramore, said.
He said an incoming cold front moving across the alpine regions on Sunday and Monday could bring another 10 to 20cm of snow, after Mt Hotham woke to 27cm on Wednesday morning.
Psyched snow bunnies shouldn’t get too excited by the recent snow dump, however, as the high likelihood of an El Nino this winter is likely to suppress rainfall in eastern Australia during winter and spring.
“It’s always tough to say whether it’ll be a good ski season, but looking at the seasonal outlook, we’re expecting drier conditions over winter,” Mr Narramore said.
“It might not be as good as the last few years, but we’re off to a good start.”
Adelaide had its second warmest start to winter since 1887, with a mean of 16.1C, while Melbourne had its sixth warmest start, with an average minimum temperature of 10C.
Things are expected to warm up through Friday and Saturday across the south of the country before another cold front moves in from Sunday to Monday.
“That will bring showers, gusty winds and more snow to alpine areas across Victoria, NSW, SA and Tasmania,” Mr Narramore said.
“Then that will continue into mid-next week with showers continuing into Tuesday.”
This next cold front could bring another 10 to 20cm of snow for alpine resorts on Sunday and Monday, with the mountains already experiencing widespread falls of 20-30cm over the past few days.
Lots of sunshine is forecast for Friday across all capital cities, except for Perth, which will reach a top of 19C with a high chance of showers.
Sunny skies will hang around on Saturday for Sydney, Canberra and Darwin, while the other major cities should experience showers. Conditions will improve for Perth on Saturday with a low chance of rain and some partly cloudy skies.
Weather warnings remain “pretty quiet” for much of the country, though the incoming cold front could bring strong winds to SA, Victoria and Tasmania Friday and Saturday.
“We’re also likely to see widespread frost continuing through much of inland NSW and southern Queensland over the next few days,” Mr Narramore said.
“Maybe even in southern parts of the Northern Territory, with some morning frosts for the next few days, which should continue into the weekend and possibly even early next week.
“All pretty typical winter weather around the country.”