Parts of northern Queensland registered their lowest temperature in more than a decade on Friday morning.

A cold, dry air mass combined with clear skies and light winds allowed the mercury to plummet over Queensland's northern tropics on Thursday night.

Image: Clear skies and wintry sureface temperature observations over Queensland on Friday morning.

Mareeba Airport dropped as low as 5.6 degrees on Friday morning. This is its lowest temperature for any month since 2007. Further east, Cairns Airport reached 9.5 degrees shortly after 6am, its lowest temperature so far this year and its coldest during July for nine years. It was even cold enough for frost on the Atherton Tablelands.

Image: A frosty morning at Malanda Falls Caravan Park on Friday morning. Source: Janine Rielly / Facebook

A bit further down the coast, Mackay Airport's four degrees this morning was its lowest July temperature since 2015.

While these temperatures are common in many areas of southern Australia during winter, parts of northern Queensland can go years without seeing single-figure temperatures. Frost isn't a regular visitor to northern parts of the sunshine state.