The bleak cold conditions have continued for the last two weeks and are likely to continue to the end of June. Two low pressure systems are approaching from the west. The first one now crossing the Bight will bring patchy rainfalls in the next few days while the second one, a more stronger system, is now west of Perth and will bring heavier falls at the end of June or early July. The approach of these two low pressures will bring milder nights and less frosts, but daytime maximums will remain below the June normal. There has been an absence of high maximum temperatures this month. The highest temperature this month in Coonabarabran is only 18 degrees and this will be the first time since 1978 that the highest temperature did not exceed 18 degrees in June.
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There have been many widespread heavy frosts in our regions since the arrival of that cold blast on June 11. Some places in outback Queensland had record low minimum temperatures. Tambo recorded minus 5.6 degrees, the coldest June morning on record, surpassing the previous coldest June morning of minus 5 in 1971. There were two other cold mornings of minus 5.6 degrees in late July 1979 and on August 10, 1995, in Tambo. Both those equal record lows in 1979 and 1995 set up notably warmer than average days over eastern Australia in August. Biloela recorded minus 3.4 degrees, the coldest in June since minus 3.9 in 1982.
Closer to home, Echuca recorded minus 5 degrees on June 19, a new record low for June in 80 years. The previous record was minus 4.5 on June 19, 1998. Hay with minus 3.6 had its coldest June morning since 1998. Griffith, minus 4 degrees, had its coldest June morning since 2007.
Conditions hark back to last century
There seems to be shades of resemblance this year to that of 1998. Coonabarabran has had above average rain from last April up to June after a warm dry March. It has been very wet in East Gippsland with monthly rainfall totals exceeding 200 millimetres at the major towns and this certainly happened in June 1998. Some places this month have had their coldest June conditions since 2007. Newcastle in 2007 had its wettest June on record with 495.2 millimetres and very heavy rain reached East Gippsland later in June. About six weeks later we had warm dry conditions from August, which continued to the third week of October 2007 and then very wet from November 2007 to February 2008.
In 1998 it was remarkably wet from April right up to November 1998 over most of NSW but somewhat drier in Victoria and the Riverina from June onwards except for above average rain in both July and September and again in November. Maximum temperatures the last four months of 1998 were more above normal in our region than over most of NSW. I recall a fierce heat wave during the second week of December 1998 in Melbourne when the temperature reached 42 degrees. I did take part in the Eastern Veteran cycle race on one of the hot days and sadly one of the veterans had a fatal heart attack during the race.
Dubbo has had well above average rain since December 2023 with 559 millimetres up to late June, the wettest for this period since 633 millimetres in 1969. We certainly had heavy frosts in June of 1969 but were blessed with warmer days the latter half of July and most of August.
