The cold snap is making the eastern states shiver and is set to stick around until the end of the week bringing frosty mornings, dry days, and freezing “feels like” temperatures. Meteorologists have said the current temperature dip is unusual for May when a more gradual descent into winter weather can often be expected. However, in the country’s west, rain and storms are likely in the coming days as a series of cold fronts roll in from the Indian Ocean.
Cold polar air has made its way up from the Southern Ocean, crossing into Victoria and NSW. Temperatures in parts of New South Wales and the ACT have plummeted to well below zero over the last few days. On Monday morning, Glen Innes bottomed out at -7.5C, but it felt more like -11C. Canberra saw -5.5C on the weekend and Perisher -9.4C. “It’s been freezing for this time in May,” said Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Helen Kirkup.
A high-pressure system has squatted over NSW and parts of Victori, leading to calm conditions and blue skies. The clear skies have meant any daytime heat has been swiftly lost overnight with no cloud cover to trap in the warmth. “Most of the state will see that high-pressure system sitting around for most of the week, and those clear skies and light winds will mean we will continue to get fairly frosty cold mornings,” said Ms. Kirkup. However, the high-pressure system will slowly move off to the east, seeing minimum temperatures rise as we get to the weekend. But it will hardly be toasty. “The winds will ease off, and it’s more likely we’ll just get those cold crisp mornings you get as we head towards winter.”
Cold snap continues in the east.
For Sydney, that means a steady week of maximums peaking at 21C most days. But the lows will drop to around 9C until Frida when they will increase to 12C. The winds could shave a few degrees off of what feels-like dawn temperatures. Some rain is possible on Friday and Saturday. Frost is likely on the Great Dividing Range and in central parts of the state. Dubbo could sink to lows of 1C for much of the week; Glen Innes will likely hit zero at dawn until the weekend, and Orange is looking at -2C on Wednesday morning.
Wednesday will also see -3C in Canberra, with zero likely every morning until Sunday, when the mercury may rise by a notch. Sunny daytime highs will be in the mid-teens. A possible shower or two in Brisbane towards the end of the week. Overnight lows of 12-13C this week and highs in the mid-twenties. Warm and dry in Townsville, with highs of 28C heading down to 18C at daybreak. A shower in Melbourne on Thursda,y but dry aside from that. Wednesday could see a low of 10C and then 7C on Friday before rising again early next week. Daytime highs of 17-19C for the rest of the week. Wednesday and Thursday could see some light rain in Hobart with minimums of 11C and highs of 18C. When the cloud clears on Friday, the temperatures will sink to just 4C, with a high of around 16C. A dry Adelaide will swing between 10C overnight and around 20C during the warmest part of the day.
