Qld weather: Polar blasts bring freezing temperatures and frost

Residents in parts of southern Queensland have woken to their coldest morning of the year, with temperature dropping below zero in a number of places.

Parts of South East Queensland shivered through subzero temperatures this morning Picture: Weatherzone

It’s another freezing start for much of southern Queensland with the temperature dropping below zero in a number of places.

Meanwhile, Brisbane and the rest of South East Queensland is in for a chilly 24 hours with temperatures not expected to climb above 19C, while it will feel much colder due to 30kmh westerly winds.

The conditions are described as “Ekka weather but on steroids” by amateur weather forecast Dylan Mckenna.

Roma has borne the brunt of a series of cold fronts lingering across the state, waking up to a freezing -3.2C, with the feels-like temperature dropping to a bone-chilling -6.5C at 5.40am.

Charleville is also feeling the cold at -1.1C and with an apparent temperature of -3.4C.

It was also chilly on the Darling Downs and Granite Belt, with Miles at -0.8c with a feels-like temperature of -3.8C at 6am, while Wellcamp Airport on the outskirts of Toowoomba was -0.4C, with a feels-like temperature of -4.7C at 6am.

West of Wellcamp Airport, Dalby was 0.1C with a feels-like temperature of -4.2C at 6am, while Oakey was 0.4C with a feels-like temperature of -3.8C at 6am.

A cold snap is gripping southern Queensland this morning. Picture: WeatherWatch

The major town of the Darling Downs, Toowoomba was 1.3C with a feels-like temperature of -4C at 6am.

In the southeast, a number of areas have dropped well into single digits, including Beaudesert where the mercury dropped to 1.7C at 5.40am, with an apparent temp of -0.2C.

Temperatures in Brisbane dropped to 10.7 just after 4am, and 10.3 at the airport before rising.

BOM forecaster Jonathan How said the cold air mass hanging over the state had resulted in the coldest morning of the year for many towns across the state.

“We are seeing quite a cold air mass sitting across southern and central Queensland and it’s all due to that sort of cold front we could push through the southeast of the country,” Mr How said.

“We have seen some very low temperatures all the way through southern parts of the state, even out into the western parts as well.

“The lowest temperatures this morning that I can see is -3.2C at Roma, and then -1.9C in Charleville, that’s pretty cold for those areas.

“Kingaroy was -0.1C, Bundaberg 7.9C, Hervey Bay 6.1C, and Maryborough 3C.

“That is the coldest morning of the year for those areas.”

Mr How said while the next few mornings will be cold, it will start to warm up later in the week.

“It will be another cold night tonight before another cold morning, we could still see some pretty widespread frost, particularly through the southern inland and it will still get pretty cold in the southeast,” he said.

“We will see this these cool mornings gradually warm up in the second half of the week, so from Thursday, Friday, into the weekend.”

Temperatures are expected to climb to a maximum of 19 in Brisbane, with sunny conditions but westerly winds of up to 30km/h until early evening.

Maximum temperatures of 20C are expected on the Gold and Sunshine coasts.

Temperatures have also plunged in northern and central parts of Queensland, where the mercury has dipped to 4.3C in Julia Creek, 3.7C in Urandangi, .4C in Blackall.

Originally published as Qld weather: Polar blasts bring freezing temperatures and frost