Following a fairly warm winter across much of Antarctica and indeed large swathes of interior Australia, it’s turned brutally cold just when you’d expect temperatures to begin rising as spring approaches. The build-up of deep cold over Antarctica has spilled out over the Southern Ocean lately.

Just how cold has it gotten in Antarctica?

https://twitter.com/ZdenekNejedly/status/1034454076615012354

https://twitter.com/ANTMET/status/1034899760472379394

https://twitter.com/Gaia_for_GAIA/status/1035450444838051840

The late winter cold outbreak reached much of southeast Australia in the closing days of the Southern Hemisphere’s meteorological winter. This may I add was not an ordinary winter cold spell.

With 0.8C, Melbourne’s CBD had it’s coldest night in 21 years and coldest late winter low since 1957 but the outlying Tullamarine International Airport witnessed a 32 year low with -2C.

Sydney’s CBD dipped to 4.6C, it’s coolest night for 21 years but outlying Olympic Park’s 0.8C was the coldest for this late in the season in some 60 years. Sydney’s western suburbs dipped to -2C.

Thredbo hit a frigid -13.2C making it the coldest night here in 24 years but it was perishing in Perisher where the temperature dropped to an overnight low of -14.2C marking Australia’s coldest minimum for 8 years.

https://twitter.com/SnowForecast/status/1036182488803155968

The -10C at Falls Creek is the lowest here in 44 years.

With a -4.2C low at Kempsey, this was their coldest minimum on record. Records date back 53 years.

On Tasmania, Strahan’s low of -2.3C was this town’s coolest in 14 years.

Here are scenes most don’t associate with Australia.

https://twitter.com/StormchaserUKEU/status/1031213904037400581

Tags: australia record cold