Online temperature records suggest this morning's -12 C frost at Glen Innes airport is a record but locals disagree, saying the thermometer has plunged this low - and perhaps lower - in winters before.
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded the thermometer's dramatic plunge from -8.3 at 3.30am to -12 at 6:30, sinking 1.8 degrees in that darkest hour before dawn.
The deep freeze capped a week of extended cold mornings with this part of New England Tablelands experiencing the coldest temperatures in Australia.
But was it the coldest ever?
Online historic records, like Australian Meteorology and the Elders forecast page, say the previous record was 7.5 degrees, set July 12 2011 - the wettest year on record.
Wagyu producer Jerome Hayden was away on business in Sydney and not at home, east of Glen Innes, but confirmed a -12 degree low this morning.
"We've been there for 17 years and we've had -12 before," he said.
At Guyra, 270m higher than Glen Innes, the mercury dipped to -8, which is a new low if the online information is to be believed. The previous Guyra record stood at 7.1 degrees on July 16, 2007.
For Guyra livestock agent and auctioneer Blake O'Reilly the morning was momentous enough, with cold water pipe feeding a hot water system bursting with frost just above the ground.
