Cool, showery weather spreading up Australia’s east coast

A southerly change will move up Australia’s east coast between Wednesday and Friday, causing cooler temperatures and light showers before a return of warmer weather from the weekend.

Cold front marching north

A cold front passed over southeastern Australia on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, bringing a burst of wintry weather to Tasmania and parts of Victoria. This included showers and small hail, along with snow that was forecast to reach down to around 500 m elevation in southern Tas on Wednesday morning.

This front will weaken as it moves further north but will still manage to traverse the entire east coast of Australia during the next three days. The southerly change will reach Sydney on Wednesday morning and then pass through Brisbane on Wednesday night.

Temperatures will cool by several degrees with this change, exacerbated in some areas by wind chill, and some coastal locations will also see showers with and behind the change.

Sydney’s maximum temperatures are forecast to reach 19–20°C between Wednesday and Friday, although Wednesday afternoon will feel cooler than about 12°C in the wake of the change. Brisbane’s maximums are predicted to hover around 22°C from Thursday to Saturday.

Showers will spread along Australia's east coast this week
Image: Forecast temperature and wind early on Thursday morning. Source: Weatherzone.

Warmer weather returning

Temperatures will warm up again along parts of Australia’s east coast from this weekend into early next week as northerly winds develop ahead of another cold front.

By Sunday, Sydney should see temperatures reaching around 23°C in the city and 28°C in the west, before adding a few more degrees early next week. Western Sydney could hit 30°C on Monday. Brisbane will also bounce back to the mid-20s by the start of next week.

There are early signs that another cool change could sweep across southeastern Australia on Tuesday next week before spreading north through NSW and Qld during the middle of the week.

It’s not unusual for temperatures to bounce around like this in spring as cooler air masses coming up from the south clash with warmer air building over the continent. This temperature see-saw will continue until warmer weather becomes more dominant in later spring and summer.