Summer 2022 NH / Winter 2022 SH Discussion Thread.

Nevermind, the airport only reached 19.9'C, so still no official 20'C...

Snow Could Fall In Hobart This Weekend
( source: Weatherzone )


A bitterly cold air mass will cause low-level snow in Tasmania this weekend, with parts of Hobart possibly in line to see the first flakes of the season.
A pool of polar air from the ice sheets of Antarctica will surge across the Southern Ocean later this week and slam into Tasmania on the weekend.
Forecast models suggest that the air arriving in Tasmania late on Saturday and lingering into Sunday could be cold enough for snow to fall to about 100 to 200 metres above sea level, possible even lower. While there is still some uncertainty regarding the exact snow level this far out, all forecast models agree that it’s going to get very cold and that there will be widespread snow.

At this stage, there is a good chance that the hills around Hobart will see some snow over the weekend, including the lower slopes of Mount Wellington. There may even be a few flakes near sea level, with model data currently predicting snow for Ouse, Grove, Bushy Park, New Norfolk and Huonville.

It’s not unusual for Tasmania to see brief periods of low-level snow in winter. In fact, it can snow in Tasmania at any time of year, even in the middle of summer.
In addition to the snow, this weekend cold spell will also feature powerful winds that could cause damaging gusts in some parts of the state. Warnings are likely to be issued for the low temperatures and wind later in the week.

A snapshot of June so far in AU ( ignore the AWS Troughton Is. figure....an obvious instrument malfunction )

There was a tornado nearby this morning.

Queensland Horse Unamused By Heavy Frost
( source: Weatherzone )

he Queensland Maroons took this week's first State of Origin Match in Sydney, then brought home the southern chill too. And at least one local was very confused by it.
This rather unamused horse was captured standing in a chilly frost-covered paddock at Crediton, an elevated rural locality about 90 minutes west of Mackay, where the valleys are around 800 metres above sea level.


Queensland temperatures fell to sub-zero levels overnight at numerous locations across at least five forecast districts. These included:

Capricornia
Biloela -1.2°C

Maranoa and Warrego
Charleville -0.9°C
Roma -1.8°C

Darling Downs and Granite Belt
Dalby -1.5°C
Miles -0.6°C
Toowoomba -0.8°C
Wellcamp airport -2.4°C

Wide Bay and Burnett
Kingaroy -2.3°C

Southeast Coast
Beaudesert -0.6°C
Canungra -1°C

Temps also dropped to near-freezing at several towns best known for their extreme summer heat, such as Longreach in the Central West (2.0°C) and Thargomindah (2.7°C) in the Channel Country, out near the spot where the Qld, SA and NSW borders meet.

It's also worth mentioning that while no sub-zero temps were recorded at weather stations in the Central Coast-Whitsundays forecast district, heavy frost was recorded in the valleys west of Mackay, as you've seen from the image at the top of this story.

Why such cold overnight temps in Queensland?
To see subzero temperatures across such a large part of Australia's second-largest state, you need two things: cold air from the south, and clear skies.
That's been the case for much of the week in Queensland now, which is illustrated well on the image below, which was captured just after 9 am AEST.



As you can see, Antarctic air continues to push north to the east of the high pressure system centred over the Great Australian Bight, while the weather radar shows that Queensland is totally free of the green precipitation blobs indicating rain – a rarity indeed for 2022 to date.

For the record, the coldest Queensland temperature ever recorded was the -10.6°C in 1961 at Queensland's "snow capital" Stanthorpe (as in, the town where it very occasionally snows).
No temperature records have been broken in this current spell of cold Queensland overnight minimums, but the prolonged cold over several nights has definitely got locals rugging up.
Six locations had their coldest night this early in the year for 22 years, including the -0.8°C at Toowoomba mentioned above, as well as Mackay Airport (4.3).

Brisbane Airport shivered through its coldest minimum this early in the year in 16 years (4.9°C), while Brisbane had its coldest maximum of 2022 to date on Tuesday, with a top of just 16.9°C.
The city just managed to top 20°C yesterday, but will struggle to get beyond the teens until at least next Monday, with overnight minimums as low as 6°C.

Looks like temps in the mid to upper 90s early next week with decently strong ridging:





Strewth!

First heat of the summer looking increasingly likely next week