Melbourne’s weather is setting records for the hottest and coldest May days in parts of the city as autumn swings from one extreme to the other.
At Moorabbin Airport in the city’s south-east, a balmy 27.4 degrees recorded on May 6 was the highest temperature in 54 years.
Braving the cool temperatures at St Kilda Beach. Credit: Paul Jeffers
Two weeks later, on Monday, May 19, the temperature plunged to minus 0.4 degrees, the coldest May reading ever recorded at the Moorabbin site.
Viewbank in Melbourne’s north-east hit a toasty 27.5 degrees on May 6, only to shiver down to minus 0.9 degrees on Monday – the lowest May temperature in the suburb’s 26-year record. Residents have also endured three nights of temperatures below zero for the first time in May.
The cold snap extended well beyond metropolitan Melbourne, as widespread frosts and record lows were reported across Victoria.
On Tuesday, Coldstream recorded minus 5.5 degrees, marking its coldest May morning in 31 years. And on Wednesday, the chilly conditions continued: Pound Creek hit minus 2.5 degrees, Dartmoor minus 1.6 degrees, Cerberus minus 1.5 degrees, and Scoresby minus 0.5 degrees, each breaking longstanding records for their coldest May days.
Friends rug up for a stroll along the promenade at St Kilda.Credit: Paul Jeffers
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Christie Johnson said these cold temperatures were unusual for May, and were more typical of the winter months.
“For Melbourne, the fact that we’ve had three consecutive nights below 4 degrees is the first time that’s happened in May since 2008, but it’s the first time it’s happened so early in May since about 1952,” she said.
Johnson said a confluence of weather systems was to blame for the cold week. Earlier in the month, warm northerly winds swept hot air down from the northern parts of the country, bringing weather reminiscent of the summer.
But this was followed by a strong cold front and a high-pressure system that brought clear skies and calm winds, creating ideal conditions for overnight frost and temperature drops.
Windy conditions are expected on Sunday, and will continue into Monday.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Looking ahead, Johnson said Melburnians should brace for more weather mood swings.
“In terms of the forecast for the next week, we’re probably going to see a bit of a mixed bag, and that’s because we’re going to see potentially another cold start tomorrow,” she said.
“But then we’re going to start getting some cloud coming over us from the weather that’s bringing all the flooding to NSW. That low-pressure system is going to start tracking southwards and drawing moisture down over Victoria.
“We’re not going to get anything like the sort of rainfall that they got in NSW, but we will be getting some showers, particularly in the eastern part of the state.”
A fresh cold front is expected to sweep through on Sunday, bringing windy conditions into Monday.
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