In Australia, winter runs from June to August.
The chill may be a signal of strengthening El Nino that is expected to bring Australia warmer and drier conditions through late winter and spring.
A low-pressure system near Tasmania has pulled cold air north across Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and even southern Queensland, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology.
The system brought scattered showers to Victoria and Tasmania on Tuesday, while temperatures dropped into the low single digits or even below zero in some places across inland New South Wales. Melbourne was forecast to reach only 13 degrees Celsius, with brisk winds making it feel closer to 10 degrees.
Snow was possible above about 1,000 metres around the Snowy Mountains on Tuesday. On Wednesday, showers are expected to linger across southeastern New South Wales, with snow above 1,200 metres during the morning.
Victoria will remain cold and showery south of the Great Dividing Range, particularly around Gippsland, while Tasmania may receive rain along its eastern and northern coasts. Frost and fog are possible across southeastern South Australia, although most of the state will stay dry.
Queensland will be mostly dry and sunny, with Brisbane forecast to reach 25 degrees on Wednesday. However, the state recently recorded one of its coldest mornings in years. Oakey Airport fell to an official minus 5.4 degrees on July 26, while an unofficial handheld thermometer recorded minus 8.4 degrees at Broadwater near Stanthorpe.
Western Australia, meanwhile, saw rain spread from Exmouth to Albany on Tuesday. Many areas were forecast to receive between five and 15 millimetres, while parts of the Gascoyne and Pilbara faced falls of around 50 millimetres or more and a risk of localised flash flooding.
The wintry outbreak comes against a very different seasonal backdrop. Australia’s weather bureau says the Pacific is now in an El Nino phase, with most climate models indicating that the event could become strong or very strong.
El Nino generally reduces winter and spring rainfall across eastern and central Australia. The bureau’s August-to-October outlook consequently favours below-average rainfall across much of the east and southwest, while daytime temperatures are expected to be above average across most areas south of the tropics.