A story published by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), “Alice Springs freezes through longest streak of sub-zero days on record,” reports Alice Springs, Australia and the surrounding area have experienced an unusually cold July, thus far.
As the story notes, central Australia is more known for “scorching hot summers and year-round blue skies,” than severe winters, but this year is different.
“The temperature in Alice Springs has dropped below zero degrees Celsius for 12 consecutive mornings,” writes ABC. “According to the Bureau of Meteorology – which has been keeping records of temperatures in Alice Springs for 81 years – that has surpassed the previous longest streak of below-zero days set in July 1976.”
Just two days earlier, ABC ran a story detailing how residents and tourists in the tropical northern region Western Australia have been surprised by the unusual bitter cold holding fast there. ABC reports:
Residents in Western Australia’s Kimberley region have shivered through one of the coldest starts to July on record, with some areas reporting record low day and night temperatures for the month.
The mercury plummeted to six degrees Celsius in Kununurra last Friday, days after the town endured a record low maximum daytime temperature of 19.3 degrees on July 1.
Other major centers across the region reported below average mean temperatures, with cold snaps spanning several days at Broome, Fitzroy Crossing, and Halls Creek.
ABC says tourists visiting Kimberly to escape southern Australia’s cold winter have been surprised by the low temperatures in this part of the country.
“Sally Town, who owns three department stores in the Pilbara and Kimberley, says tourists are buying ‘emergency winter clothing,’” reports ABC. “‘The tourists have not been expecting the cold weather — a lot are coming up to the Kimberley to get away from the cold,’ she said.”
Map of Australia temperatures from Eldorado Weather.