Australia Weather News

After warm days, a sudden cold snap announces the arrival of winter in central Victoria.

Go back a few weeks and central Victoria was enjoying a late burst of summer, with top temperatures into the 20s. That is well above May's mean temperature of 16.6 degrees, and even above the highest monthly mean of 18.4 degrees. Even the low temperatures were above the highest mean low temperature for May.

Now a sudden drop in overnight lows, from 6.1 degrees in the early hours of May 29 to 1.2 and 1.6 degrees early on May 30 and 31, has locals reaching for scarves and gloves — and for cameras to record winter's first early morning frosts.

Other areas of the state have already had their own cold snaps, with snowfall reported at Mount Hotham and Melbourne reporting its coldest day since last winter.