If people thought the frosts of the past few days were colder than average, well, for many parts of the state, they’re spot on.
Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) data shows all time low records tumbled for Hay, which hit -6.3 degrees Celsius on Sunday, Cootamundra, which hit -7.8 on Sunday, Deniliquin airport hit -5.6 on Saturday, Young airport hit -6.6 on Saturday and West Wyalong airport hit -5.6 on Sunday.
Other locations which hit monthly record lows include: Pooncarie, -3 on Sunday; Temora airport, -5.8 on Sunday; Khancoban, -4.6 on Sunday, and Wilcannia airport, -3.7 on Sunday.
Bathurst also equalled its all time record low of -7.3, on Saturday, previously set on June 15, 2006. The town’s previous lowest temperature for July was -6.6, set on July 2, 2006.
Goulburn broke its previous July low of -9.1 degrees Celsius, set on July 23, 1994. This was reached during three freezing days, including Saturday, which bottomed at -9.7, Sunday, which hit the state’s lowest for the week of -10.4, and this morning (Monday), which hit -9.4. This was the first time since August 1994 that Goulburn has had three consecutive days below -9.
Canberra clocked up its first three consecutive days below -7 (Saturday, Sunday and Monday) since 1971.
Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster, Gabrielle Woodhouse, Sydney, said the brisk weather was the result of a concurrent cold front and high pressure system crossing the state. This created a dry air mass and cloudless nights, which allowed heat to escape quickly into the atmosphere.
Ms Woodhouse said another cold front would pass over the state in the next few days, but this time, the clouds associated with the patchy rain and showers it is expected to bring will prevent temperatures plummeting as dramatically as in the past few days.
She said this change would bring windy weather and showers for the northern slopes, the south-east inland and possible snow above 1300 metres and it would bring similar conditions on Wednesday.
A sheep graziers warning has been issued for southern parts of the state, including the Southern Tablelands, Snowy Mountains, Central Tablelands, South West Slopes and the ACT.
A warning for strong winds was also released for the Eden Coast today (Monday) and Batemans Coast for Tuesday.
The previous month was the driest June for NSW since 2002, with well below average rain for all but the north-east of the state.
