Sydney has coldest morning in almost 12 months as ‘feels like’ temperature drops below 1C
Sydney has shivered through its coldest morning in almost 12 months with the city temperature dipping to 5.7C – but it felt even colder with the windchill.
“In New South Wales we did have a very cold morning again and we probably still have a little more coolness to come,” the Bureau of Meteorology’s Helen Reid said on Thursday.
On 20 July 2023, Sydney recorded a minimum of 5.1C at Observatory Hill. Thursday was the coldest June morning since 21 June last year when the low was 5.2C.
The “feels like” or apparent temperature – which factors in wind during the colder months and humidity during warmer weather – dropped below 1C on Thursday.
The weather bureau does not maintain a long-term archive of the “feels like” temperature.
Homebush recorded a low of 3.7C at 7am on Thursday while Camden was the coldest place in the Sydney metropolitan area recording a minimum of -0.8C.
Regional and alpine areas saw very low overnight temperatures, with Cooma recording -8.9C, and Perisher -8C, while the whole of the southern tablelands saw temperatures down to -5C.
Despite the cold start, Sydney was expected to reach a maximum of 17C. Friday likely would not be as chilly in Sydney and NSW, Reid said.
In Melbourne, overnight minimums ranged from -2.6C in Coldstream to 3.1C at Olympic Park. At 8.30am, it was only marginally above that, at 6.7C with a forecast top of 13C.
The alpine areas were also very cold. Mount Hotham recorded -8.3C while Falls Creek and Omeo were below -4C.
Reid said the cold mornings were due to a combination of clear skies, cold dry air and a stable atmosphere due to a persistent ridge of high pressure.
“This cold air had been brought to the south-eastern states with successive cold fronts in recent weeks and was maintained in recent days with a cool southerly flow,” Reid said on Thursday.
Frost warnings and sheep grazier’s warnings were current for parts of NSW and Victoria.
A cold front was expected to move through NSW on Thursday bringing cloud cover and some rainfall through southern districts, to the west of the ranges and possibly near the Queensland border, reducing the cold across the state and the risk of frost in the coming days.
That rain and cloud cover was also expected to affect parts of Victoria, with light rain across Gippsland and snow possible down to 1,200 metres on Thursday evening.
