Australia weather: Polar surge brings frost, rain and snow to Queensland, NSW
Millions of Australians are set to shiver through a wintry blast this week as the east coast is hammered by an intense polar blast, bringing painfully cold weather and more rainfall.
Heavy rainfall on Sunday ended a brief two days of sunshine in NSW with warnings more downpours, freezing temperatures and snow are on the way.
Weatherzone meteorologist Andrew Schmidt said the wet conditions were the result of a low-pressure system lingering in the Tasman Sea and southerly winds.
The rain battered Sydney on Monday before moving off the coast but meteorologists warn it could return as early as Wednesday.
‘A cold front will move across south-east and eastern Australia in the coming days bringing a wintry mix of showers, brisk winds and snow to lower levels,’ the Bureau of Meteorology warned,
‘Showers easing on Wednesday, but cold conditions continuing.’
Heavy rain on Sunday ended a brief two days of sunshine in NSW with intermittent rainfall predicted for the rest of the week
Wet conditions hitting Australia’s east coast this week are the result of a low-pressure system lingering in the Tasman Sea and southerly winds (Pictured, people walking along Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne)
Queensland residents experienced a frosty start to the week after waking to freezing temperatures with chilly conditions expected to continue throughout the week.
Roma, five hours west of Brisbane, was the coldest place in the state on Monday morning, dropping to a painful -3.9C as BOM forecast ‘extensive’ frost across the town throughout the week.
And Kingaroy, two hours west of the Queensland capital, was also freezing at -2.4C as the country town braces for more freezing mornings with the mercury expected to drop to 0C, 1C and -1C on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, respectively.
Sydney suburbs Camden and Richmond are forecast to hit 2C on Saturday while Paramatta will drop to to 4C.
A cold front will move across south-east and eastern Aus in the coming days bringing a wintry mix of showers, brisk winds and #snow to lower levels ❄️
Showers easing on Wed, but cold conditions continuing.
Latest forecasts and warnings: https://t.co/1cfWha14lD pic.twitter.com/HRVhSpHTbw
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) July 11, 2022
Sydney recorded its 8th wettest July and 9th wettest year in more than 160 years of records after picking up close to four months’ worth of rain in the month’s opening week.
Sydney’s Observatory Hill weather station recorded 281.4 mm of rain during the first seven days of July and a total rainfall of 1,828.8 mm of rain since the start of 2022.
The one-week July deluge was close to four times the city’s monthly average and already its 8th highest July total in records dating back to 1858.
Sky News Weather meteorologist Alison Osborne said a blast of cold polar air would bring snowfall to parts of Tasmania stretching all the way up to the northern ranges, on the Queensland-NSW border.
‘Now that cold frontal system is actually bringing up a burst of some very cold polar air,’ she said.
‘This means while snow showers will fall over the usual areas like the Tasmania central plateau and the Australian Alps, Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning could bring a light dusting of snow to the central and even the northern ranges.’
Sydney had its 8th wettest July in more than 160 years with 281.4 mm of rain recorded during the first seven days of the month
Ms Osborne said Aussies across most of the country – except WA – should brace for icy conditions from next week.
‘There’ll be widespread frost as the mercury chills right down again to below five degrees and in some cases below freezing through southern Queensland, the central parts of the Northern Territory, eastern and southern Australia and across parts of Victoria’s high country,’ she said.
‘Frost warnings are likely to be in place again for growers and road weather alerts in Tasmania.’
Showers in Sydney are forecasted to clear later in the week but surf conditions are tipped to remain dangerous.
The bleak forecast comes as flood victims begin to return to their inundated homes following the latest floods in NSW.
The Bureau of Meteorology predicted a reprieve for flood affected communities despite possible intermittent showers for most of the week.
Seven day weather forecast
Sydney:
Monday: Max 16C (showers)
Tuesday: Min 8C, Max 17C (partly cloudy)
Wednesday: Min 8C, Max 16C (shower or two)
Thursday: Min 8C, Max 16C (possible shower)
Friday: Min 7C, Max 17C (mostly sunny)
Brisbane:
Monday: Max 21C (partly cloudy)
Tuesday: Min 9C, Max 20C (shower or two)
Wednesday: Min 9C, Max 19C (windy, mostly sunny)
Thursday: Min 7C, Max 20C (mostly sunny)
Friday: Min 8C, Max 20C (mostly sunny)
Adelaide:
Monday: Max 14C (showers developing)
Tuesday: Min 8C, Max 14C (showers)
Wednesday: Min 8C, Max 14C (possible morning and afternoon shower)
Thursday: Min 6C, Max 15C (chance of shower)
Friday: Min 7C, Max 15C (chance of showers)
Canberra:
Monday: Max 13C (mostly sunny)
Tuesday: Min -1C, Max 12C (morning frost, chance of afternoon and evening showers)
Wednesday: Min 0C, Max 12C (cloudy)
Thursday: Min -1C, Max 12C (morning frost)
Friday: Min -3C, Max 12C (morning frost, sunny)
Melbourne:
Monday: Max 14C (partly cloudy)
Tuesday: Min 7C, Max 12C (showers)
Wednesday: Min 7C, Max 13C (showers)
Thursday: Min 7C, Max 14C (possible showers)
Friday: Min 6C, Max 14C (chance of showers)
Perth:
Monday: Max 18C (mostly sunny)
Tuesday: Min 6C, Max 19C (chance of morning frost, mostly sunny)
Wednesday: Min 6C, Max 21C (sunny)
Thursday: Min 11C, Max 20C (showers)
Friday: Min 13C, Max 21C (showers or two)
Hobart:
Monday: Max 14C (chance of showers)
Tuesday: Min 7C, Max 12C (showers)
Wednesday: Min 5C, Max 11C (shower or two)
Thursday: Min 3C, Max 13C (chance of showers)
Friday: Min 4C, Max 13C (slight chance of showers)
Darwin:
Monday: Max 29C (sunny)
Tuesday: Min 15C, Max 29C (sunny)
Wednesday: Min 16C, Max 29C (sunny)
Thursday: Min 15C, Max 29C (sunny)
Friday: Min 16C, Max 28C (sunny)
Source: Bureau of Meteorology
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