Townsville to get winter chill as ‘icy’ blast cools state
A trough sweeping across the state will blanket Townsville with an “icy” chill with temperatures expected to drop down to the wintry depths.
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An ‘icy blanket’ is set to drive temperatures down to the chilly lows of winter this weekend.
Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Peter Markworth said the minimum temperatures this weekend could fall below the winter average as a trough moves from the southwest over Queensland.
On Saturday temperatures are expected to drop to a chilly low of 11C while Sunday will be another good day to duck under the doona, with a low of 14C forecast.
“The average minimum temperature for July which is obviously the coldest part of winter is 13.7C,” Mr Markworth said.
Time to revisit today's chart,👇 as the cold air behind the cold front prepares to be propelled across #Qld like an icy blanket. The southwest will see the mins into the single digits on Thurs, #Toowoomba by Fri, while 10C drops will be felt as far north as #Townsville on Sat. pic.twitter.com/oG0SnI6NIS
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) April 27, 2020
Mr Markworth explained the trough would “blanket most of the state”.
“That will reach up to pretty much all the way up to Cardwell, Townsville,” he said.
“(Townsville is) getting to potentially slightly below the winter conditions.
“Everywhere south of there will feel the impact of that (trough). That’s going to bring a lot of cold particularly to southeast Queensland.”
Mr Markworth said there would be little moisture in the air which will mean it has the ability of getting quite cool.
“This could be quite a significant cold front,” he said.
He said Townsville’s coldest day in May was recorded in 1957, when the mercury plummeted 6.2C at the airport on May 23.
The change will be quite severe with temperatures being consistent with this time of year before plummeting almost 7C below the May average in a day.
A southern cold snap is heading for #Queensland late this week with cooler temps for most of the State, rainfall in the south and raised dust in the west. Single digit minimums & frost forecast for some areas. Stay up to date w/ #QldWeather forecasts: https://t.co/b4Mpsop7GR ðŸŒ¡ï¸ pic.twitter.com/huLoEWJKjK
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) April 27, 2020
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Mr Markworth said Townsville could expect minimum temperatures of about 21C for the rest of the week and pleasant maximums of up to 32C.
Maximum temperatures at the weekend of 29C will however be marginally higher than May average of 27.7C.
The cool impact of the trough will also be felt in the regions with temperatures in Ayr forecast to drop down to 14C on Saturday, while Ingham will get down to 13C and Charters Towers 11C on Sunday.
Originally published as Townsville to get winter chill as ‘icy’ blast cools state