Winter in Australia is only three weeks away and frosty temperatures have already started to send shivers across some parts of the country. But how cold will it need to get for records to tumble across Australia this winter?

The Bureau of Meteorology has reliable temperature records stretching back more than 100 years in every Australian state and territory.

The last time an individual state broke its lowest temperature record was in 2020, when Liawenee in Tasmania reached a chilling -14.2ºC on August 7. However, the national record hasn’t been challenged since 1994.

Below are the lowest temperatures on record for Australia and each state and territory. Note that the ACT has been included with NSW for this list:

• Australia: -23.0ºC at Charlotte Pass, NSW on June 29, 1994
• NSW/ACT: -23.0ºC at Charlotte Pass on June 29, 1994
• VIC: -11.7ºC at Falls Creek on July 3, 1970, and Omeo on June 15, 1965
• QLD: -10.6ºC at Hermitage on July 12, 1965 and Stanthorpe on June 23, 1961
• TAS: -14.2ºC at Liawenee on August 7, 2020
• SA: -8.2ºC at Yongala on July 20, 1976
• WA: -7.2ºC at Eyre on August 17, 2008
• NT: -7.5ºC at Alice Springs on July 17, 1976

Temperatures will need to drop below the values listed above to set new state or national records this winter. While most states and territories haven’t challenged their records for about 30 to 60 years, Liawenee’s cold snap in 2020 showed that it is possible to break low temperatures records in the modern climate.