Temperatures plummet across Australia as cold snap hits
An icy pocket of Antarctic air moving over Australia’s southern and eastern states is causing temperatures to plummet, with some parts of the country set to drop to 0 degrees overnight ahead of a cold day on Friday.
The cold front sweeping across Tasmania, Victoria, NSW, ACT and Queensland is bringing rain, hail, thunder and strong winds along with unseasonably cold temperatures.
Melbourne is expected to receive a month’s worth of rain over the next three days – the wettest period so far in 2018.
If the city fails to reach the forecast maximum of 13 degrees on Thursday, it will officially be the coldest day this early in the year since 1970, Weatherzone reports.
The cold front brought snow to the Victorian alps overnight on Wednesday, with Falls Creek, Mount Hotham, Mount Buller, the Grampians and Mount Baw Baw receiving considerable amounts of powder.
Snow has also fallen in parts of NSW, ACT and Tasmania and is expected to reach the NSW Central West on Thursday afternoon and possibly in the Blue Mountains overnight.
“We’re seeing snow falling to 800m so it’s definitely snowing on the Grampians,”Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Michael Efron said on Thursday.
After snow fell in the Victorian Alps on Wednesday night Mt Baw Baw Alpine Resort spokesman John Fascio said it was likely to receive a further 30cm by Friday.
“With the official snow season launch only a few weeks away, if this weather continues we’ll be in for one of our best snow seasons yet,” he told AAP.
Melburnians will wake up to chilly temperatures of just 7 degrees on Friday morning, with wind gusts expected to reach up to 100km/h in some parts.
“The wind chill factor will make it feel about one to three degrees colder than that,” Weatherzone meteorologist Graeme Brittain told Yahoo7.
Rain, hail, thunder and strong winds will continue to blast the state through to Friday.
The cold front appears to be affecting Canberra the most, with the city expecting to plummet to 0C overnight. If the forecast maximum of 9 degrees on Friday proves accurate, Weatherzone says it will also be the city’s coldest day this early in the year since 1970.
Hobart and Sydney will both have overnight lows of 9C, but while Tasmania will be hit with heavy rainfalls, New South Wales residents will only be expecting showers.
Those along the NSW coastline could experience winds of up to 90km/h, with waves predicted to reach as high as six metres off beaches in the Hunter on Saturday.
Mr Brittain said southern facing beaches would be most affected, and warned against ocean activities such as surfing and rock fishing.
Brisbane residents will experience a sudden drop in temperature on Friday night, with an unseasonably cold low of 9 degrees on Saturday morning, about 7 degrees cooler than the previous morning.
The sunshine state will avoid heavy downpours and strong winds, and will still maintain a high of 20 on Saturday.
Temperature across all states are set to rise by mid-next week.
