Qld weather: Widespread frost, subzero temps, and chance of snow in Granite Belt
Subzero temperatures caused by a cold blast from the Antarctic could see the possibly of snow in Queensland. This is where it’s most likely to fall.
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Snow is possible for parts of Queensland next week as a cold blast from the Antarctic sweeps across eastern Australia.
The combination of a high pressure system with the frontal system is set to cause cool air from the Antarctic to flow through into Queensland from late Saturday into Sunday.
Temperatures are expected to plunge across parts of the southeast from Monday to Wednesday.
Subzero temperatures are expected for the Darling Downs and Granite Belt on Wednesday morning, with -2C forecast for Stanthorpe, OC at Oakey, and 0C at Warwick.
There is also a possibility of light showers which means if the conditions are right, there is a possibility of snow falling on the Granite Belt, according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s Daniel Hayes.
“We are likely to see temperatures that will be cold enough and we’ll be seeing some quite widespread negative temperatures for the overnights and lots of frost around the place as we head into that Monday through Wednesday period,” Mr Hayes said.
“Of course to get snow we also need precipitation and for most of that period, it’s likely to be quite dry.
“Around about that Wednesday period, we start to see the chance of a few little showers around that Stanthorpe area, so if it falls at the right time of the day when it is freezing, then potentially it could fall as snow.
“There are a few peaks in the area, anywhere that is a bit higher you could get the odd snow flurry.
“It’s pretty marginal, as it always is really for snow in Queensland, but it’s a non-zero chance.”
If snow was to fall, Mr Hayes said the early hours of Wednesday morning would be the likely window.
“The overnight temperature for Wednesday morning is supposed to be -2C,” he said.
“If the showers fall in the early hours of the morning then that chance would be there.
“It is quite marginal, but it is a possibility.”
Southern Queensland-based weather photographer Chris McFerran plans to follow the weather system from northern New South Wales into Stanthorpe in the early hours of Wednesday.
“I’ll be down there in Guyra, where there is a very good chance to see snow, and I will move up with the snow, if it continues up into Queensland,” Mr McFerran said.
“I watch the forecast like a hawk all winter and wait for these snow events.”
The last major snowfall event in Queensland was in July 2015, when Eukey was blanketed by thick snow, while there were also reports of snow in the rural locality in June, 2019.
Mr McFerran said he would love to see snow return to Queensland.
“It’s been nearly a decade now, Queensland is due for some snow,” he said.
“The last time it snowed in Queensland was 2015, that is when Stanthorpe was covered in snow, the ranges around Killarney, and as far north as Cunningham’s Gap in those elevated terrain on the mountains there.
‘For Queensland, it’s very rare.”
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