Wintry week for Adelaide, Melbourne
Some weeks, winter feels exactly like winter with showers, blustery winds and chilly days, and that's what's in store this week for Adelaide, Melbourne and plenty of spots in between.
For residents of Adelaide and southern SA, this week's chilly wet weather will be particularly welcome.
- Adelaide suffered through a desperately dry spell between February (which was totally rain-free) and May, with a total of just 25.4 mm in four months.
- To 9 am Monday, Adelaide has enjoyed 46.2 mm of rain across 12 days to date in June 2024, but the monthly average of 72 mm has not yet been reached, and the city's water storages are at just 45% of capacity (this time last year they were 58%).
So when locals see 10 to 20 mm likely on a couple of days this week, with at least a shower possible on all seven days until Sunday, they won't be complaining.
Melbourne has also had a dry start to winter, accumulating just 13.2 mm of its June monthly average of 48.6 mm to date. The week ahead doesn't look as wet as Adelaide’s, but there's a few millimetres likely on at least two days this week, heaviest on Tuesday and Sunday.
Days will remain cool to cold, and at this stage, it looks like conditions should be dry on Wednesday evening for the 8:05 pm kickoff of Game II of rugby league's 2024 State of Origin series between the Queensland Maroons and the New South Wales Blues at the MCG.
The chart above shows where precipitation is expected to accumulate this week. Note that the heaviest falls are expected on the southern coastline of the SE mainland, in the high country of NSW and Victoria (where it should mostly fall as snow), as well as in northern Tasmania.
The three-hour radar loop to 2 pm Monday shows the low pressure system and associated cold front down in the Great Australian Bight, with the tell-tale field of speckled cloud which is always associated with cold, showery winter weather.
As the front is located a fair way south of the continent, cold air and moisture will only flick southern parts of mainland Australia, and apart from the aforementioned mountain districts, most of the moisture won't make it as far north as the Murray River.
The system will also generate gusty north to northwesterly winds as it make its way east. Melbourne usually struggles to receive heavy falls under a northerly, which is why only smallish rainfall totals are predicted for the week ahead.
So this is not the coldest or wettest cold front we're likely to see all winter, but it's active enough to be ushering in a burst of wintry weather lasting several days, and the ski resorts should get a nice midweek top-up too. Check our snow page for more info.