Cold weather to stay after NT records coldest night of the year
Cool temperatures continue to plague the Territory as the dry season kicks in.
Northern Territory
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THE Territory winter has plagued the delayed dry season with some parts of the region reaching nearly below 0C.
German expat Simon Drapal, 22, wasn’t expecting the Top End to be so cold when he arrived a few days ago.
“I was heading down to the beach and there was no sun,” he said.
“It was pretty windy so I put a jumper on.
“I thought it might be a bit warmer but then I got here.”
“I thought maybe its because of the ocean and the ocean just pulls down the climate a bit.
“(But) I spent a few days the Kakadu National Park before and it was always cool in the morning.”
Mr Drapal said that the cooler weather didn’t both of him because he had experienced many European winters before coming to Australia.
“Its easier for me to deal with the cold then it is to deal with the warmer weather,” he said.
“I don’t know what the weather is normally like, so it didn’t stick out to me.
Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) senior forecaster Mosese Raico said the cooler weather would continue across the Territory all week.
“We had that high that basically drove all that weather across the Top End,” he said.
“That's still extending a pretty good bridge across Central Australia.
“Maintaining those generally speaking cool and dry winds across the Top End, that's pretty much what’s driving that high that moved across yesterday (Sunday) and is still persisting across that bridge across the continent.”
Mr Raico said the dry air would remain across Darwin.
“Darwin specifically might get some very weak sea breezes during the late afternoon, early evening period but probably seeing the dry air return in the early morning,” he said.
“Winds turning more easterly and drying out in the early morning so potentially seeing some cooler nights continuing across Darwin.”
Territorians in Alice Springs had to rug up over the weekend after temperatures recorded below zero over the weekend.
“It was a cool morning again, temperatures might increase just marginally by a couple of degrees or so as we head into tomorrow,” Mr Raico said.
“The rest of the week will probably see those temperatures potentially just slightly above average.
“I’m only talking a couple of degrees above average down south.”
The Top End should have steady temperatures and a maximum of 33C over the week, with Alice Springs experiencing cooler temperatures in the early 20Cs.
Bloody freezing! Dry season chill lashes the NT
THE dry season freeze is finally upon us with regions across the Northern Territory hit with their coldest temperatures of the year.
After an unusually warm and wet dry season week, the weather has done a complete 180 and finally we’re into a proper June day.
Darwin experienced its coldest morning of the year with some probably waking up in the middle of the night to temperatures of 19.6C, but it felt like 15C.
â„ï¸ðŸŒ¡ï¸ A chilly morning in the NT. #Darwin had its first night for the year below 20C (19.6C) and #AliceSprings had its first night below 0C (-0.5C). Image below shows temps at 7am this morning. Find out how cold it was where you live here https://t.co/bYHyo8NSOipic.twitter.com/dCPe3McxTK
— Bureau of Meteorology, Northern Territory (@BOM_NT) June 9, 2022
It makes the night the first of the year to drop below 20C.
As for Alice Springs it was their coldest night of the year with temperatures dropping below zero degrees for the first time.
Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) senior forecaster Billy Lynch said temperatures were expected to remain cool over the long weekend.
“This what we come to expect from the dry season,” Mr Lynch said.
“These temperatures are expected to stay down over the weekend, and will warm up just a little bit into next week.
“Flashback to last week and the second half of May, when temperatures were warmer, we weren’t seeing the high pressure systems we need for this colder weather as we are now.
“It’s come at the perfect time for the long weekend.
“For those in Alice temperatures will stay cold so make sure you rug up, especially if you’re going camping.”
Originally published as Cold weather to stay after NT records coldest night of the year
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