June 17, 2018
Kingaroy was officially the coldest place in Queensland on Saturday morning, recording a chilly -3.3 degrees at Kingaroy Airport.
It beat Roma, Stanthorpe, Warwick and Gatton, which all recorded -1 degree.
Saturday was also the third coldest morning in the South Burnett so far this year, beating a -1.4 degree minimum on May 21 and a -1.6 degree low on June 2.
According to the Bureau Of Meteorology (BOM), the current cold snap is being driven by a slow-moving cold, dry air mass pushing through Queensland from Antarctica.
While Sunday morning was slightly warmer at -0.9 degrees, inland temperatures are expected to stay chilly for the next few days.
Kingaroy is forecast to hit a minimum of -1 on Monday morning, rising to 1 degree on Tuesday; 2 degrees on Wednesday; and 3 degrees on Thursday and Friday.
According to BOM, we may be in for even cooler weather in the months ahead.
Kingaroy’s long-term minimum average temperature for June (between 2001 and 2018) is 5.9 degrees.
This dips to 3.7 degrees in July, then rises to 4.2 degrees in August.
But in September, Spring should see overnight average minimums quickly rise to 8.1 degrees.
This will be followed by further rises in October (11.6 degrees) and November (14.6 degrees).
UPDATE June 18: Kingaroy exceeded BOM’s forecast for Monday, recording an overnight low of -3.5 degrees. But it was even colder at Oakey (-4.9 degrees) and Wellcamp Airport (-4.1 degrees).
