Cold temperature records have been falling across eastern Australia during a recent extended winter cold spell.
Cold temperature records have fallen all across Queensland, reports Electroverse on July 18:
- Palmerville dipped to reach 0.5℃ (32.9℉), “smashing the July record of 1.7C that had stood since 1899.”
- Kowanyama posted 4.9℃ (40.8℉), a full 1℃ lower than the previous record low for the date set in 1984.
- Also, the 6℃ (42.8℉) daily high recorded at Applethorpe was the lowest max anywhere in the state since 2015.
Cold temperature records continued to fall on July 19, as well, with the low temperature measured at Charters Towers dipping to 0.1℃ (32.2℉), breaking the all-time record set in 1899, exceeded by a full 1℃. Elsewhere, Weipa experienced its coldest July 19, at 9.9℃, breaking its previous low set in 1959. Other locations in the fairly tropical region also recorded either new record lows or new record low-maximums for the date.
The unusually cold temperatures resulted in record electric power use for the season across eastern Australia, with Electroverse writing:
[On July 15,} Victoria broke a 17-year record for maximum winter electricity demand, reaching 8,612 MW at 6PM, surpassing the previous record set in July 2007 by more than 250 MW.
Headed north, Queensland has also set a new record for maximum winter electricity demand, reaching 8,728 MW, up 12 MW from the previous record set on July 4, 2022. At the time of the peak demand, Queensland’s generation mix consisted of 65.1% black coal, 25.9% gas, 4.2% hydro, 2.5% wind, 0.7% batteries, and 1.6% imported.
The record breaking energy use reported on by Electroverse came even before the low temperature records were broken later in the week, meaning new records for demand may have been set twice in one week.