Temperatures in Australia are now starting to decrease due to the seasonal change. Nevertheless, the current weather situation in the eastern and south-eastern regions differs from the average in terms of temperature and precipitation. You can examine typical weather patterns for a selected location with our climate diagrams, analysing data from the past 30 years. The raw data of these diagrams are included in history+, a meteoblue tool that grants access to worldwide weather data since 1960. Hence, it helps compare and analyse weather and climate data.
The unusually low temperatures in Australia are caused by a cold front with extraordinarily cool and gusty winds coming from the southwest due to a low-pressure system near Melbourne, as shown in our wind animation. The low determines the weather in New South Wales, and brings marine wind and surf warnings for the whole week. The same applies to many other south and south-eastern regions. This becomes visible when checking our Sea & Surf Forecast meteogram, which helps our users to plan various water sports and activities. The meteogram shows the forecast for Coffs Harbour, located on the east coast of New South Wales. It shows high wind speeds and wave heights of over 2 meters for the next few days. This underlines the fact that water sports are not recommended in the following days in this region.
The described cold front is also visible in our temperature and precipitation weather map, shown in the videos, visualising daily maximum temperature values and daily precipitation amounts for Australia and parts of Oceania, where the cold front in the southern region can be identified. The weather is predicted to normalise in southern regions of Australia at the end of the week.
Coinciding with the cold snap in southern Australia, a low-pressure cyclone called “Ilsa” comes from the north. As can be seen in the precipitation map above, and other maps by meteoblue, the cyclone is going to impact the mainland of western Australia on 2023-04-12, causing heavy storms with local massive rainfall and destructive winds and gusts (150km/h or even more). After arriving to the mainland, Ilsa will move towards Alice Springs, located in the middle of the country, gradually weakening and probably stopping during the night from Friday to Saturday. The best tool to follow Ilsa is our wind animation (see video), and our synoptic air pressure map.
The wind animation video shows a dominant vortex rotating clockwise at the beginning of the sequence. In the southern hemisphere, a clockwise rotation signals a low-pressure area (due to the Coriolis force). The cyclone then continues on its path inwards, slowly weakening. (The video shows the simulated situation for selected days at 2 pm Australian time).
Weather-wise, a lot is going on in Australia at the moment. So stay safe, and remember to keep up to date with the latest forecasts.
