Kyabram records coldest May morning on record

By Max Stainkamph

May 31, 2021

If you thought it was cold on Monday morning, you weren't wrong.

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Kyabramites shivered through their coldest May morning on record as the mercury plunged to minus 2.7°C.

It was the coldest May temperature recorded in the town since records began 57 years ago, firmly closing the door on autumn.

However, frosty mornings are not expected to continue.

Winter began yesterday, capping off a dry autumn and signalling the start of what the Bureau of Meteorology predicts will be a warmer winter.

The bureau's seasonal outlook, released last week, said night-time temperatures were expected to be warmer than average through most of the country.

Autumn was dry — just 18.8mm of rain has fallen in Kyabram in the past two months, and while 76.8mm fell in March, most of that was across two days of storms on March 21 and 22.

Bureau climatologist Lynette Bettio said the dry spell was expected to continue across much of the country.

“Some areas of Victoria and South Australia have missed out on their usual autumn rainfall and could be heading into a dry winter,” Dr Bettio said.

Autumn's warmest temperature was 34.6°C on March 13, with the warmest overnight temperature of 18.6°C on the same day.

May's warmest day was the second day of the month at 26.5°C, while the coolest maximum was 14.1°C.

Just three days recorded more than one millimetre of rainfall, with 12.4mm on May 26 the most of the month.

A small amount of rain is predicted for today and tomorrow, and Saturday will be the coldest day of the week ranging from a minimum of zero to a maximum of 13°C.