Currumbin Dingos still go on early morning dip in near record-low temperatures
A rare fogbow has been captured on camera as subzero conditions grip large parts of Southern Queensland this morning. Apparent temperatures dropped to a chilly -6.5C.
QLD weather news
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD weather news. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Forecasters are warning it could get even colder this winter as Queensland shivers through a brutal cold snap caused by a blast of polar air from Antarctica.
The Bureau of Meteorology is saying despite the current cold snap, Queenslanders are warned it could get colder over coming months.
It comes as BOM’s meteorologists have marvelled over a rare weather phenomenon snapped near Toowoomba.
Known as a ‘Fogbow’ the weather event has similar origins to a rainbow, however, is drained of its colour due to a scattering of sunlight and foggy conditions.
“A freezing fogbow! A fogbow is the less colourful cousin of a rainbow,” BOM tweeted.
The Bureau issued an explainer with the discovery, saying fogbows form in the same way as rainbows, with the sun’s rays being refracted and reflected by the water droplets in the fog.
“However, fog droplets are typically much smaller than the rain drops that form rainbows.
“This leads to smaller amounts of refraction and reflection so the colours in a fogbow are less distinct and often appear to be white.”
BOM metrologist Brooke Pagel described her excitement at first seeing the Fogbow, which she said were not uncommon in southern parts of Australia due to the chilly climate.
“Even with Toowoomba Airport recording temperatures below zero overnight and this morning, paired with the foggy conditions it was still an exciting surprise,” Ms Pagel said.
“The BOM team chats were going off, everyone was saying ‘this is great’.
“We don’t usually see them in Queensland because we don’t have snowy mountains or places of a really high altitude.”
Earlier, it was -1.4C at Wellcamp, just west of Toowoomba, at 5.10am today, making it the coldest place in Queensland. It felt like -2.1C.
However, the apparent temperature dropped lower in Warwick where it felt like -6.5C. It also felt colder Toowoomba at -6.2C, in Roma at -5.3C and Dalby at -2.2C.
South East Queensland is also shivering this morning, with Canungra a freezing -04C at 5.30am. Beaudesert dropped to just 0.1C, though it felt much colder with the apparent temperature at -2C.
At the Brisbane Airport at 5.30am it was 6C, on the Sunshine Coast it was 2.8C and on the Gold Coast it was 8.1C
The cold temperatures are also spreading north, with Kingaroy shivering at -1.5C, Maryborough sitting at 2.3C and at Gympie where it was just 2C.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Harry Clark said the cold conditions which had blanketed most of the state would peak later this week, before slightly warming up.
“Essentially what we have is a really dry air mass has been pushed over most of Queensland from down south which is bringing these clear and relatively calm, but cold, conditions,” Mr Clark said.
“We didn’t quite have an autumn so it’s been quite a sharp transition which makes it feel all that much worse. It certainly could get colder over the next few months.”
Bitterly cold conditions across the state on Thursday were not enough to stop these brave locals from taking their regular icy dip, even as temperatures plunged to near record lows.
The famous local swimming group the Currumbin Dingos go for a sunrise dip each morning at the glorious Gold Coast beach – rain, hail or shine – and have done so for more than three decades.
While the Gold Coast area plunged well into the single digits, locals in other parts of the state felt the cold weather bite even harder.
Wellcamp Airport in the Darling Downs was the coldest place in the state on Thursday as well, plunging to a below freezing -3.6C, but the apparent temperature was much colder at -6C.
Applethorpe dropped to -2.4C, while in Warwick the temps were a chilly -2.2C. Similarly, Toowoomba was at -0.1C just before 7am but it felt like -4.3C and in Oakey it was -1.4C but felt like -2.4C.
Brisbane was also stung, with the temperatures at Brisbane Airport dropping to as low as 5.1C.
Cold weather was forecast to continue for the remainder of the week, with frost forecast for several areas across the state on Friday and Saturday including in the South East, but also into the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland.
CURRENT TEMPS & 7-DAY FORECAST
PM slams Bruce Hwy, as military might unleashed on flood clean-up
The Prime Minister hasn’t pulled any punches in his assessment of a critical part of the Bruce Highway as he visits flood-ragaved North Queensland, vowing to provide “whatever support is necessary”.
PM leaves parliament to visit flood-ravaged north Qld towns
The defence force has been brought into rebuild parts of the decimated Bruce Hwy as the Prime Minister has jetted into the north Queensland flood disaster zone.