When you think of Australia, you probably think of golden beaches, tanned surfers and beautiful sunshine.
It’s not often you’d think Australia would be cold, let alone have a city known for being the coldest in the world.
But that’s what Melbourne is at the moment, as the city was hit with a cold snap today, (June 19) plunging some places to -4C.
wikimediaWhile minus 4 doesn’t sound that cold, it’s quite the difference as, over on the other hemisphere, we’re enjoying some summertime weather and football matches are being played in temperatures up to 30C.
As the Daily Mail reports, the cold front hit Victoria overnight, and biting winds caused temperatures to feel more like minus nine overnight.
I know what you’re thinking, surely other cities are colder than Melbourne right now, but, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, while Melbourne hit minus 4, Alaska was 13C, Iceland 8C, 14C in Norway and 17C in Peru, to name just a few.
Rose Barr, a meteorologist from the Bureau of Meteorology said:
There were pretty chilly temperatures over the southern ranges and other elevated peaks. It was more rainy along the coast … the current forecast for the Sydney region is between 9 and 25mml [of rain].
We could see more isolated locations with heavier showers along the coast will see a little more rainfall, more than Richmond or Penrith.
The cold snap won’t last too long fortunately, as temperatures are expected to warm up later in the week.
Earlier this year, it was reported 2018 could be Australia’s coldest winter ever.
Temperatures and snowfall in the region could reach shocking levels compared to previous years, according to an amateur weather forecaster.
David Taylor, who runs the East Coast Weather Facebook page, has correctly predicted major weather events in the past and said the icy conditions would impact huge areas of the country.
PixabayTaylor told the Cairns Post:
It’s looking pretty scary. One of the outlooks is for it to cross the coast then swing southeast and cross south of Bundaberg.
We’ve already seen what America’s winter was like and Scotland just got hammered.
It will be slightly cooler than normal in the north but the real cold will be in the southern states and southeast Queensland in places like Warwick and Stanthorpe.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there is snow in places where it hasn’t snowed for a long time.
Taylor made his forecast using a formula which explores changes in sunspot activity.
He was the only person who correctly predicted the massive weather event that hit Townsville, which saw the north-east coast of Australia hit with 600mm of rain in February.
David continued:
I compare that with sunspot activity and not many others do. Forecasting uses a lot of factors including wind speeds, altitude and moisture.
A lot of people don’t realise that when a forecast is made, if the wind is out by direction or speed, it can change the whole outlook.
After the Beast from the East, I’m quite happy to be in the mild UK for once.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.