Weather News

Wintry winds to chill TAS while QLD and NSW bakes

Brett Dutschke, Wednesday March 4, 2015 - 13:48 AEDT

Tomorrow will be t-shirts verses overcoats as Queensland and northern New South Wales bake in temperatures in the high thirties and forties while Tasmania is dealt single-digit temperatures in bitter, snowy winds.

As the strongest front in months ploughs across Tasmania a low pressure trough will be drawing near-record heat across northern NSW and Queensland, leading to very contrasting weather.

With a temperature differential of more than 35 degrees, wind in the south and humidity in the north will make the 'feels like' differential exceed 40 degrees.

Temperatures will reach as high as about 43 degrees in western Queensland while they struggle to reach five degrees on the Tasmanian highlands.

Nearer the Queensland coast humidity will be higher than in the state's west. Brisbane should be about 36 degrees in the afternoon but will feel more likely 40 degrees.

At the same time in Tasmania, Hobart will be about 13 degrees yet wind will make it feel more like nine-or-ten. And on the highlands colder, stronger winds will make it feel below freezing after a morning of snow.

To have such a large temperature contrast between Queensland and Tasmania is not that unusual, it would happen most years, but it is much rarer in March.

The last time Brisbane was as hot as 35 degrees while Hobart was as cold as 13 degrees was in December 2012. But the last time it occurred in March was in 1965 when Brisbane hit a record 38.8 degrees and Hobart only managed a top of 12.2 degrees.

Come Friday the contrast will much less due to a high pressure system quickly taking control of a large area of southeastern Australia. Brisbane is going for a top of 29 degrees (about average for this time of year) and Hobart 18 (only two degrees below average).

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2015

Enter a postcode or town name for local weather, or text to search the site. » advanced search

Weather News

» all stories

Winter is Coming: Chilly day for Sydney, rain pelts eastern seaboard

17:22 AEST Just as we forecast yesterday, a coastal trough has deepened along the NSW and southeast Qld coasts as a low in the Coral Sea continues to inch closer to Qld. The trough has brought some interesting weather to NSW in the past 36 hours or so, particularly along the coastal fringe, giving those New South Welshmen a “Stark” Game of Thrones reminder: winter is coming.