Residents of southeast Queensland woke up to dramatically cooler temperatures this morning. In fact, the following Queensland locations experienced their coldest March morning on record:

• Amberley's minimum temperature of 6.2°C was the coldest March temperature in more than 84 years of records. 

• Toowoomba's temperature of 8.1°C was the coldest March temperature in more than 29 years of records. 

• Gold Coast Seaway's temperature of 12.8°C was the coldest March temperature in more than 32 years of records. 

Image: minimum temperatures for Saturday, 28 March 2026. Source: Weatherzone. 

In Brisbane, the temperature dropped to 14.1°C this morning, making it the coldest March morning in 18 years. It was also the coldest temperature recorded in the River City since early October. 

Why did it get so cold this morning? One contributing factor was a southwesterly change which occurred yesterday, 27 March 2026. Southwesterly winds yesterday ushered in a much drier air mass, lowering the dew point in Brisbane from 15.8°C at noon to -2.4°C at 7pm, and making these record-breaking cold temperatures possible. 

This cold snap will be short-lived. East to southeast winds will return for the new week, bringing higher dew points as well as milder overnight temperatures.