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News.com.au
16-06-2025
- Climate
- News.com.au
Australia's coldest locations revealed
As winter and its bitter cold starts to settle into our bones and our homes, a new study has revealed Australia's coldest locations. And it's not in the often maligned and misunderstood nation's capital Canberra. Data crunched by Alliance Climate Control analysed a series of factors including elevation, temperature and daily sonar exposure to discover which Australian cities suffer the coldest winters. 'Our study reveals that while location plays a major role in how cold and 'chilly' a city is, the Australian winter isn't quite so straightforward,' Goran Surbevski – Comfort Advisor at Alliance Climate Control comments. 'Factors such as wind, elevation, latitude and lack of sunlight can all contribute to how cold a city feels. 'Wind, for instance, can significantly enhance the perception of cold through wind chill, making temperatures feel much lower than they actually are.' According the study the top 10 chilliest locations in Australia are: 1. Hobart 2. ACT 3. Kingston 4. Maroondah 5. Knox 6. Manningham 7. Moonee Valley 8. Whitehorse 9. Brimbank 10. Monash Hobart ranks as Australia's chilliest city with a dry bulb temperature of 8.94°C,' the report reads. 'Despite not being the coldest by temperature alone, its high tree canopy coverage (44.1 per cent) and relatively low heating costs ($207) contribute to its top score. Located at -42.88 latitude and just 19 m elevation. 'Hobart experiences low moisture levels (5.03 g/kg) and limited solar exposure (6.73 MJ/m²). Its combination of southern latitude, maritime climate, and strong urban greenery creates a cool, damp winter environment that feels particularly chilly.' However it is in Canberra and the ACT where winter heating costs are the most expensive, a whopping $236 for the winter months as opposed to $189 in the other top 10 locations listed. This report comes on the back of revelations that most Aussies are using their heaters the wrong way. Icy mornings across much of the country in recent days have delivered a reminder to many Aussies that no matter how much they blast their heaters, warmth never seems to stay for long. Housing experts have revealed that this chill isn't just down to the weather — it's a design flaw baked into the way Australian homes have been built for decades. And it means that most households are using heaters in an inefficient way that's sending their power bills through the roof – without doing an adequate job of keeping the interior warm. A common problem is that heaters are being used in rooms that lack insulation and are too open and too large for the heater to deliver any meaningful feeling of extra warmth.
Time Out
13-06-2025
- Climate
- Time Out
Canberra vs Hobart: These are the coldest cities in Australia right now
Earlier this month, a new study named Canberra as the best place in Australia to raise a family. But many of our readers weren't sold on the capital for one main reason: the cold. Aussies are almost immune to winter temperatures, which in some states are warmer than Scandinavia's summer. But if you think Canberra is cold, you'll want to pack extra woollies when visiting Hobart – which just took the title of Australia's coldest city this winter. To identify where people experience the chilliest winters, the team at Alliance Climate Control analysed Australia's 100 most populated areas on seven metrics: latitude, elevation, temperature, humidity, wind, daily solar exposure, tree canopy and average heating costs. They then weighed the scores and gave each place a total out of 100, with higher scores equating to colder conditions. Given that it's Australia's closest capital to Antarctica, it makes sense that Hobart tops the list as Australia's chilliest place to live in winter. Despite not being the coldest based on temperature alone – the average dry bulb temperature sits at 8.94 degrees – Hobart's southern latitude and low elevation of 19 metres contribute to its frost factor. Add in high tree canopy coverage (44.1 per cent), limited sun exposure and low moisture levels, and you get a city that feels especially chilly and damp. The ACT LGA, which includes Canberra, ranks as the second-frostiest city in Australia. Due to sitting at a much higher elevation of 606 metres, it experiences the country's lowest dry bulb temperatures of 6.8 degrees. But unlike Hobart, it gets more sunshine, less wind and less shade from urban greenery (33.6 per cent) – making its winter chill a tiny bit more bearable. All the remaining top ten chilliest spots are in Victoria, with Kingston, Maroondah and Knox rounding out the top five. Temperatures in all these suburbs sit just above or below ten degrees, with small differences in wind speed, sunlight and tree coverage. On the brighter side, Darwin experiences the mildest winter in Australia, with an average dry bulb temperature of 24.84 degrees. That's warmer than it gets during summer in Hobart! You can check out the full results here, or see our summary below. These are the 10 coldest cities in Australia Hobart, TAS Canberra, ACT Kingston, VIC Maroondah, VIC Knox, VIC Manningham, VIC Moonee Valley, VIC Whitehorse, VIC Brimbank, VIC Monash, VIC RECOMMENDED FOR YOU: ❄️ 💙 All the reasons you should visit Hobart in winter
Sydney Morning Herald
31-05-2025
- Climate
- Sydney Morning Herald
What winter has in store for Sydney and NSW
Winter follows an autumn that was book-ended by a cyclone in the Brisbane region and floods in the Mid North Coast of NSW, while inland areas suffered record-breaking drought because of the position of the Southern Annular Mode. Minney said it was unclear when the drought would break. All the while, the continent was ringed by a marine heatwave that had killed coral in both Queensland and Western Australia and millions of fish in salmon farms in Tasmania. In South Australia, a bloom of Karenia mikimotoi algae has blanketed thousands of square kilometres of the ocean with discoloured water and foam for weeks, killing fish, sharks, rays, seahorses and other species with gills. The South Australian government said experts believed the marine heatwave – 2.5 degrees warmer than usual – combined with calm conditions, light winds and small swells had led to the bloom off the coast of Fleurieu Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and the southern coast of Yorke Peninsula. In an update on Thursday, the SA government said it hoped recent strong winds and ocean swells would break up the algal bloom. Internationally, King said the northern spring had brought wildfires in Scotland, while Spain was unusually wet. In Switzerland last week, a thawing glacier collapsed onto the village below and razed the forest. King said the link between climate change and heatwaves, both on land and in the ocean, was clear. It was more difficult to attribute specific rainfall events to global warming, though a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture. Winter is here The weather bureau published its latest seasonal outlook for winter on Thursday. For June-August, the bureau sees a greater than 80 per cent chance of above-average maximum and minimum temperatures across most of Australia. In south-western and south-eastern Australia, and parts of the tropical north, the chances of unusually high maximum temperatures are above 70 per cent. In southern, eastern and northern parts of Australia, the chances of unusually high minimum temperatures exceed 70 per cent. The bureau also found a 60 to 80 per cent chance of above-average rainfall for much of mainland Australia, but even odds on whether it was wetter, drier or the same as usual for much of south-west Western Australia and south-eastern Australia, and parts of the tropical north. This was driven in part by an expectation that the Indian Ocean Dipole would switch to a negative phase by the end of winter. Bushfires and mould The Australian and New Zealand Council for fire and emergency services warns of an extra bushfire risk, especially in Victoria and South Australia. Mould is another risk for those in regions expecting heat and rain. Goran Surbevski at air-conditioning company Alliance Climate Control recommended running air-conditioning in 'dry mode', which sucks moisture out of the air. 'It's especially useful during those mild, rainy days when full heating isn't needed, but the air still feels damp,' Surbevski said. Standalone dehumidifiers can do the same thing, and insulation can prevent water entering. Patchy snow In the Australian Alps, businesses dependent on snow tourism fear they are in for another bad year. Loading Jindabyne business owner Olivier Kapetanakos said the past few years were like living through 'a climate change battle' from bushfires to floods as well as COVID-19. 'Now we've got what looks like to be the third bad winter snow season coming through,' he said. 'Businesses relying on tourism have had a pretty hard trot.' Kapetanakos, president of the Jindabyne Chamber of Commerce, part owner of a tourism real estate business and operator of farmstay provider Avonside Alpine Estate, said the snow season had shrunk from a 14-16 week season to a 12-week season in the past decade, and he expected that in future it could last just eight weeks. Snowy Monaro Regional Council had a gross regional product of $1.96 billion in 2024-25. Of that, $798.8 million was attributable to tourism. Kapetanakos said there were efforts to make tourism a year-round industry for the Snowy Mountains, by attracting hikers to a new multi-day walk and mountain bikers in the warmer months. Yet the most concentrated economic activity was the snow season because it was such an expensive time of year. King said climate change was a big threat to the ski industry in Australia in the long term, but the seasonal outlook could not accurately predict snow conditions in such a small area. Also, temperature would affect whether precipitation fell as snow or rain. 'In any given winter you might get lucky and just happen to have a good dump of snow at a good time,' King said.
The Age
31-05-2025
- Climate
- The Age
What winter has in store for Sydney and NSW
Winter follows an autumn that was book-ended by a cyclone in the Brisbane region and floods in the Mid North Coast of NSW, while inland areas suffered record-breaking drought because of the position of the Southern Annular Mode. Minney said it was unclear when the drought would break. All the while, the continent was ringed by a marine heatwave that had killed coral in both Queensland and Western Australia and millions of fish in salmon farms in Tasmania. In South Australia, a bloom of Karenia mikimotoi algae has blanketed thousands of square kilometres of the ocean with discoloured water and foam for weeks, killing fish, sharks, rays, seahorses and other species with gills. The South Australian government said experts believed the marine heatwave – 2.5 degrees warmer than usual – combined with calm conditions, light winds and small swells had led to the bloom off the coast of Fleurieu Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and the southern coast of Yorke Peninsula. In an update on Thursday, the SA government said it hoped recent strong winds and ocean swells would break up the algal bloom. Internationally, King said the northern spring had brought wildfires in Scotland, while Spain was unusually wet. In Switzerland last week, a thawing glacier collapsed onto the village below and razed the forest. King said the link between climate change and heatwaves, both on land and in the ocean, was clear. It was more difficult to attribute specific rainfall events to global warming, though a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture. Winter is here The weather bureau published its latest seasonal outlook for winter on Thursday. For June-August, the bureau sees a greater than 80 per cent chance of above-average maximum and minimum temperatures across most of Australia. In south-western and south-eastern Australia, and parts of the tropical north, the chances of unusually high maximum temperatures are above 70 per cent. In southern, eastern and northern parts of Australia, the chances of unusually high minimum temperatures exceed 70 per cent. The bureau also found a 60 to 80 per cent chance of above-average rainfall for much of mainland Australia, but even odds on whether it was wetter, drier or the same as usual for much of south-west Western Australia and south-eastern Australia, and parts of the tropical north. This was driven in part by an expectation that the Indian Ocean Dipole would switch to a negative phase by the end of winter. Bushfires and mould The Australian and New Zealand Council for fire and emergency services warns of an extra bushfire risk, especially in Victoria and South Australia. Mould is another risk for those in regions expecting heat and rain. Goran Surbevski at air-conditioning company Alliance Climate Control recommended running air-conditioning in 'dry mode', which sucks moisture out of the air. 'It's especially useful during those mild, rainy days when full heating isn't needed, but the air still feels damp,' Surbevski said. Standalone dehumidifiers can do the same thing, and insulation can prevent water entering. Patchy snow In the Australian Alps, businesses dependent on snow tourism fear they are in for another bad year. Loading Jindabyne business owner Olivier Kapetanakos said the past few years were like living through 'a climate change battle' from bushfires to floods as well as COVID-19. 'Now we've got what looks like to be the third bad winter snow season coming through,' he said. 'Businesses relying on tourism have had a pretty hard trot.' Kapetanakos, president of the Jindabyne Chamber of Commerce, part owner of a tourism real estate business and operator of farmstay provider Avonside Alpine Estate, said the snow season had shrunk from a 14-16 week season to a 12-week season in the past decade, and he expected that in future it could last just eight weeks. Snowy Monaro Regional Council had a gross regional product of $1.96 billion in 2024-25. Of that, $798.8 million was attributable to tourism. Kapetanakos said there were efforts to make tourism a year-round industry for the Snowy Mountains, by attracting hikers to a new multi-day walk and mountain bikers in the warmer months. Yet the most concentrated economic activity was the snow season because it was such an expensive time of year. King said climate change was a big threat to the ski industry in Australia in the long term, but the seasonal outlook could not accurately predict snow conditions in such a small area. Also, temperature would affect whether precipitation fell as snow or rain. 'In any given winter you might get lucky and just happen to have a good dump of snow at a good time,' King said.
