A brief cold snap is set to hit Australia’s eastern seaboard, bringing rain, thunderstorms and chilly weather for Victoria, NSW, Tasmania and southern Queensland.
Sky News meteorologist Alison Osborne said the mercury will “take a dive” from Wednesday onwards, due to a burst of polar air from the Antarctic.
Victorian could see “quite cold and more winter like weather” with below average temperatures of 15C, while similar conditions will be felt in NSW.
Temperatures are also forecast to decline in Queensland throughout Thursday, before the warm weather returns on Friday.
Thursday could also bring “showers and small hail across the south east of Queensland on Wednesday afternoon, before light rain hits NSW’s north coast on Thursday.
“(On Thursday) we can see south easterly winds feeding into a low-pressure trough in NSW. This draws moisture-laiden air across NSW, which will lead to showers and thunderstorms,” said Ms Osborne.
“By Thursday evening, the wet weather settles in with and thunderstorms are predicted to mix through southeastern Queensland.”
The Bureau of Meteorology predicts temperatures will hit maximums of 25C in Sydney on Wednesday, before dropping to a high of 19C and lows of 12C on Thursday and Friday. A 70 per cent chance of rain is also forecast for both days.
In Melbourne, there is a high chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon and temperatures are expected to drop to 9C on Thursday.
A similar swath of cold weather if also forecast for Hobart. After a rainy Wednesday, the mercury will struggle to climb above 14C on Thursday and temperatures will plunge to just 6C on Thursday.
Despite the chilly reprieve, the Bureau has warned high to extreme danger ratings are in place for the rest of Australia. Temperatures in Western Australia, Northern Territory, north Queensland and NSW’s mid-north coast.
Ms Osborne said Thursday’s forecasted rain could bring some much needed reprieve to the bushfires on NSW’s mid-north coast, including Kempsey.
“But for many fire-effected areas around the mid-north coast and ranges, you’re likely to see a period of quite steady precipitation – the good soaking rains that could turn the fortunes of a couple of active fires in particular,” she said.