This week, the average temperature in parts of Australia’s eastern states will drop by 5-6°C as the “polar cold” spreads north from Tasmania to Queensland.
A cold front will spread through Victoria and western and southern New South Wales in the middle of the week and reach western Queensland by Thursday. It will then move into southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales by early next week, causing temperatures to drop 3 to 4 degrees below the region’s average.
“It’s a big area where everyone will be thinking, ‘Oh, it’s almost winter,'” said Helen Reid, a meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology.
“Queensland won’t have the same feel of polar cold as Victoria and New South Wales, but there will definitely be a shift and it will be more noticeable in the western part of the state.”
Reid said that Queensland could expect a few more intrusions of polar air from the southern states before a drier winter sets in in the state.
The first snow dust could also hit mountain peaks in the highlands of Tasmania, Victoria and southern New South Wales this week, Reid said.
