New temperature records and early snow

southeastern parts ofAustralia They signed up The coldest temperatures are in May in recent years Because of a large cold front brought frigid air from Antarctica across the country. The cold conditions have produced a mixture of rain, snow, hail, high winds and high waves in parts of Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria for their first taste of winter.

The anomaly brought new temperature records. On May 9, Oakey disembarked, in the Toowoomba district of Queensland -5.7°C: This is the lowest May temperature at this location since records began. This weather station was opened in 1970 but the full records go back to 1973. The previous record for May at this weather station was -4.4°C in May 2019. So this is an impressive cold record, surpassing the previous one by more than 1 °C. The Queensland state record is -6.9C (from 2019), so the current cold spell has produced the coldest May day in Queensland in 4 years.

And all three southern states fell below their May average New cool records Several were set up, some at meteorological stations with an observation period as late as 1912. Strahan Airfield in Tasmania fell to -0.6°C on May 7, making it the coldest May night in 22 years. In Ouse, also in Tasmania, the mercury dropped to -6.1°Cthe coldest May night in 15 years and reached Cape Sorel + 3.5 ° Con the coldest May night in 54 years. On the same day, Canberra recorded its lowest maximum temperature in just 23 years + 7.8 ° C. To the north, Sydney descended to + 7.1 ° Cwhich is equivalent to the lowest May temperature since 1999.

In this winter taste, the three southern states have witnessed the snow. The Bureau of Meteorology’s Dean Narramore said the cold snap that brought temperatures down caused widespread snowfall early on.