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Brisbane Freezes Through 23-Year Low

Brisbane just shivered through its coldest June morning in 23 years. The mercury in the CBD plunged to a brutal 5.2C (41.4F), the lowest since 2002. Brisbane Airport went even colder, bottoming out at 3.5C (38.3F) — its coldest June reading since 2009.

Across Queensland, thermometers plummeted well below average.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, a southerly polar air mass is acting "like a lid," trapping the cold near the ground and turning clear skies into a recipe for deep freezes. When the heat radiates out overnight, it leaves the surface freezing.

Oakey hit –4.2C (24.4F) this week, the coldest reading in the state. Applethorpe posted -3.5C (25.7F), Kingaroy dropped to -2.8C (27F), and Kyoomba bottomed out at a teeth-chattering -5.3C (22.5F), where calves were crusted in frost.

Even bigger anomalies were seen in towns north of the Tropic of Capricorn.

Mount Isa dropped to –0.7C (30.7F), its coldest June night in 44 years. Richmond recently saw –0.1C (31.8F), breaking a 25-year record, and Winton froze at 0.0C (32F)—the town’s first freezing night in over two decades.