Cold Weather In Sydney

[sundog]

Temperatures in Sydney got down to 4c on the morning of the 29th of June making it the coldest June morning there in nearly 30 years.

Thanks to an Antarctic front blown toward Australia by strong winds, Sydney awoke to its coldest June morning since 1983.

Frost covered the ground in city parks, as well as large swaths of inland New South Wales, pushing the temperature to -4C (24.8F) in the rural towns of Bourke and Walgett

The Sydney Morning Herald greeted readers with the headline "Have an ice day" in a city where most houses lack central heating, thanks to the city's famously warm and lengthy summers and traditionally brief winters.

Freezing weather is a feature of Australian winters, but it usually arrives later in the year, during the midwinter months of July and August.

The cold snap in Sydney came one day after Melbourne suffered its coldest day in two years, with temperatures struggling to reach 50F.

Residents of the usually balmy Queensland capital Brisbane have also been shocked by the cold, after the mercury dropped to below 46.4F.

Forecasters have blamed the cool spell on a blast of icy weather from the Antarctic. Clear skies have also kept the temperatures down, allowing warm daytime air to rise at night.

Sydney residents have been warned to brace for more cold weather until the weekend, when temperatures are forecast to rise slightly

Edited June 30, 2010 by sundog