Cities shiver through coldest day in five years

Melbourne is set to shiver through its coldest day in five years, with the city shivering through a cold snap.

While the Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a high of just 13C for Friday, it will be the city’s coldest day since 2019 if the temperature fails to rise to 10C by 9am – something Sky News Meteorologist Rob Sharpe was very likely.

He attributed the frosty temperatures to a “north west cloud band that’s crossing the country that’s linked with a cut off low”.

“It’s gone up and across South Australia and the cloud associated with the two systems has led to a gloomy day in Melbourne,” Mr Sharpe told NewsWire.

“A bit extra drizzle and all that cloud cover kept a lid on those temperatures yesterday, which mean Melbourne really struggled to warm up.”

Despite the lows, Mr Sharpe noted that Thursday may not have felt that cold, thanks to low wind.

“The wind was nice and calm, and the air was reasonably humid – both things which meant the apparent temperature wasn’t as cold on days when the air is windy and a little dry,” he said.

The mercury was also stubbornly low in other areas of the state on Thursday.

Further west, Ballarat also had its coldest day on Thursday, reaching a high of just 8C.

However it was Griffith – a regional city in NSW’s Riverina that had not only its coldest day this year, but also its coldest day since June 2016.

Temperatures on Thursday fell to a low of -0.8C, and only rose to a maximum of 9.2C.

Late showers are forecast for the city on Friday, however temperatures could rise to a maximum of 13C.

Looking to the weekend, Melburnians can expect a cloudy, albeit a slightly warmer weekend. Temperatures of Saturday are forecast to reach a low of 7C and a high of 15C. A range of 5C to 14C is predicted for Sunday, with a slight chance of a shower in the northwest suburbs.

A high chance of rain between 5 to 15mm is expected for Sydney from the afternoon and into the evening, with highs of 17C on Friday.

Morning showers are also forecast for Saturday, especially on Sydney’s coast, with a temperature range between 11C to 17, however the showers should ease by Sunday.