While ample sunshine and warm weather are forecast for much of southeastern Australia this Easter long weekend, a blast of cooler air will move through the region early next week.
Adelaide and Melbourne’s daytime temperatures are likely to be around five to eight degrees above the April average between this Thursday and Sunday.
However, temperatures will become significantly cooler in both cities from Monday as the first of a series of cold fronts and low-pressure troughs move across the nation’s south and southeast.
The first cold front and low-pressure trough will cause temperature to drop by about 4 to 8ºC in parts of SA, VIC and TAS. Temperatures are set to plummet again later in the week as another strong cold front sweeps across the area on Wednesday.
The map below shows a cold airmass moving through southern Australia behind this second front on Wednesday night.
Image: Forecast 850 hPa temperature and wind from the ECMWF model, showing cold air moving over southeastern Australia at 4am AEST on Thursday.
A belt of strong southwesterly winds will also sweep across southeastern Australia from mid-next week, making it feel several degrees cooler than the actual air temperature in both Adelaide and Melbourne.While damaging winds are not expected at this stage, the strong winds are likely to increase wind power across the National Electricity Market (NEM).
The map below shows the wind gusts forecast on Thursday afternoon.
Image: Forecast wind gust speed and direction at 4pm AEST on Thursday, April 21, according to the ECMWF-HRES model.
While the coolest air from this pair of fronts will clip Australia’s southern states, temperatures will also drop in Sydney from Thursday as cool southerly winds spread across NSW.
Looking further ahead, there a signs that a ridge of high pressure may extend across southeastern Australia on Anzac weekend, promoting another sunny long weekend. For more information on Weatherzone’s energy forecasts, please contact us at apac.sales@dtn.com.
