The early arrival of winter will continue as possible flooding will hit the northeast overnight and multiple cold fronts will bring gusty winds and showers for the rest of the week.
Parts of South East Queensland are likely to experience flash flooding tonight and tomorrow as meteorologists predict up to 200mm of rainfall overnight.
This brief burst of wet weather will affect parts of Qld’s Darling Downs, South East Coast and Wide Bay and Burnett Districts, and some eastern areas of the Maranoa and Warrego District.
Some residents of Western Australia woke up on the coldest May morning in 24 years
Syndeysiders have experienced the biggest fall cooldown in 12 years, with temperatures dropping 10 degrees in just 60 days
Yoska Hernandez, a meteorologist at Weatherzone, told Daily Mail Australia there was even a chance of flash flooding.
“We expect a trough to develop over southern Queensland and northeastern New South Wales that will bring very heavy rainfall to places like Brisbane,” she said.
“It will fall for the rest of Monday and overnight into Tuesday, with a maximum of 200mm in isolated areas over these areas.”
While rain will ease late from tomorrow, a southerly change moving up the east coast will bring wind gusts of up to 75mph to parts of Tasmania, South Australia and central NSW by Wednesday.
“The rest of the country is generally calm, but another cold front will move through the southeast on Thursday over the weekend,” Ms. Hernandez said.
“Multiple fronts will bring showers and possibly isolated storms, mainly affecting Tasmania, Victoria and parts of southeastern South Australia.”
Ms Hernandz said more wintry weather could be expected with possible snowfall in alpine areas.
Residents of Victoria and New South Wales are set for a frosty start to the week, with Mondays and Tuesdays in particular predicted to be cold and windy
Meanwhile, residents of Broome, Western Australia, were shivering during the coldest May morning in 24 years.
They woke up Monday to a frigid 11.5 degrees — a pre-winter plunge hasn’t been seen since 1999.
On Thursday, Darwin recorded a minimum of 17.5 degrees, also their coldest May morning in 8 years.
Meteorologists warn that the cold front will linger across most of Australia.
“Residents of the northern parts of WA and the NT may have broken out the extra duvets a little earlier than usual this year as the cold air that has gripped much of the country lately has also worked its way through Northwest Australia,’ said Weatherzone.
They said a persistent ridge of high pressure had brought calm but cold weather across much of northern Australia.
Strong winds are expected to blow in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland in the coming days, as well as Tasmania and South Australia
“In addition, clear skies and calm to light south-easterly winds have caused nighttime temperatures to drop in recent days,” they said.
Residents of Victoria and New South Wales will have an icy start to the week, with Monday and Tuesday in particular predicted to be cold and windy.
Meanwhile, heavy rain from Monday night into Tuesday morning will wet parts of South East Queensland, with some places at risk of flooding.
Many Sydneysiders have complained about the plummeting mercury over the past week and the statistics seem to back up their complaints.
In just 60 days, the city has cooled 10 degrees, which is the biggest fall cooldown in 12 years, according to Weatherzone. Typical 60 day cooling is between 5.5 and six degrees.
The week ending Thursday, May 11 had an average temperature of 14.7 degrees, compared to a balmy 24.7 degrees in the week ending March 12.
“This year’s cooling is largely due to the collapse of La Nina and a few strong cold fronts,” explains Weatherzone’s Brett Dutschke.
“A week ago, a wintry cold front brought as much as four inches of snow as far north as the NSW Central Tablelands.”
Earlier years with more autumn cooling were 2011 (10.4 degrees in 60 days), 1968 (10.5 degrees in 60 days), 1926 (10.7 degrees in 60 days) and 1861 (a record of 10.9 degrees in 60 days ).