Talk about a contrast. From southeast Queensland down to Victoria and southern NSW, temperatures could scarcely have been more different on Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

Obviously you expect contrasting temperatures in autumn as you move through various parts of Australia, but the difference was magnified overnight due to two different airmasses.

Take a look at the image below which showed live images around 7 am Thursday.

Down south, the dry, cold air in the wake of the front which swept across the southeast and Tasmania on Tuesday night sent temps plummeting below zero in some areas.

In northeast NSW and southeast Qld, the hot airmass which delivered a low intensity heatwave to parts of eastern Australia (and two very hot days to Sydney) was still lingering.

Cool minimums

• The mercury dipped to -0.7°C at Bombala in southern NSW, the lowest March temp in 27 years
• Omeo, in the eastern foothills of the Victorian Alps had a min of just 0.5°C, its lowest this early in the year for 12 years
• Tatura in Victoria had a min of 6.6°C, its lowest March temp in four years
• Mt Ginini in the ACT fell to 0.4°C, the lowest March reading in four years
• The coldest mainland night was at Mt Hotham, with a min of -1.3°C

Warm minimums

• Numerous locations in northeast NSW and southeast Qld had minimums in the low to mid twenties, their warmest readings for March in two to three years.
• Toowoomba, at an elevation of 640 metres on Queensland's Darling Downs had a minimum of 20.7°C, it mildest March night in four years.

The hot airmass is now making its way offshore in southeast Qld and will be replaced by a moist onshore flow which will cool things down. It will also bring showers over the next few days, with falls possibly becoming quite heavy on Saturday.