How does 22.1 very springlike degrees sound on the third day of August?

That's the temperature recorded just after 1 pm at Avalon Airport near Geelong on Thursday, as a low pressure system associated with a strong cold front in the Great Australian Bight pushes northerly winds and warm air across the eastern states.

And how about a very springlike 24.5°C in Adelaide just after 2 pm local time – the warmest August temp in Adelaide since 2020?

If you live anywhere along Australia's southern coastline east of about the WA border, we certainly hope you grabbed lunch on a shaded park bench this Thursday in the unseasonable winter warmth.

Take a look at the loop below. It shows today’s warm airmass, which will stick around most parts of southeastern Australia until around the middle of Friday (or later on Friday on the east coast) before cooler air pushes in.

More midwinter warmth sweeping across Australia, ahead of a cold front. pic.twitter.com/0KJJOCauj5

— Andrew Miskelly (@andrewmiskelly) August 2, 2023

Now check out the live temps at 1:50 pm Tuesday. The streamlines (tiny arrows) clearly show that strong northerly aspect to the winds, but the real story is the temperatures.

See how the southwest corner of WA is frigid with the cold front having cooled things down?

And what about those 24-degree readings in the Adelaide area, and also at Bairnsdale in Victoria's East Gippsland region?

We've written a lot here recently at Weatherzone about the record July warmth in places like Canberra, Sydney, Tasmania, and the Australian Alps.

But South Australia (mean max temp +1.76°C) and Victoria (mean max temp +1.3°C) were also both considerably warmer than average as a whole in July. And that trend has continued into the first days of August.

Meanwhile Melbourne hit 19.6°C just before 2 pm as we were writing this story. While some suburbs have topped 20°C this Thursday, the main city weather station's reading is not quite the warmest day of winter 2023 (it was 20.1°C on June 5), but we'll update this story if the mercury exceeds that mark this Thursday.