Sub-zero temperatures in five states, five weeks out from summer
Unseasonably cold temperatures were recorded across the southeast of the country on Tuesday morning, with some locations in Victoria recording their coldest minimum (in any month) for three years.
While October 2025 has been notable for the enormous number of heat records broken, the remnants of a cold airmass with polar origins, in combination with relatively clear skies, allowed the mercury to plunge below zero in parts of SA, Vic, Tas, NSW and the ACT.
Noteworthy minimums to 9am on Tuesday, October 28 included:
South Australia
- -1.5°C at Keith West, the equal-coldest temperature recorded in SA this October and last night’s coldest reading. At least two other locations in the state's southeast fell below zero overnight.
Victoria
- A statewide low of -7.3°C at Mt Hotham, which was only 1.1°C above its coldest October night on record, which is also the Victorian record.
- -6.6°C at the nearby ski resort of Falls Creek, the site’s coldest October night in 19 years.
- -2.3°C at the tiny East Gippsland town of Gelantipy, the coldest night in any month in three years.
- -0.2°C at the rural locality of She Oaks, about an hour west of Melbourne, the coldest October night in 17 years.
- 0.9°C at Kilmore Gap, which was also that site's coldest night in any month for three years.
New South Wales
- A statewide low of -8.8°C at Perisher Valley, which was almost three degrees warmer than the October record, but still the coldest night to date this spring.
- 7.8°C At Green Cape on the far South Coast, the site’s lowest October minimum in 15 years.
Image: The top of Thredbo (NSW) early on Tuesday morning, with a mixture of light fresh snow and remnant snow patches from winter after a minimum of -7.9°C which wasn't quite as cold as nearby Perisher Valley's -8.8°C. Source: Thredbo.com.au.
Tasmania
- A statewide low of -4.2°C at the reliably chilly Central Plateau town of Liawenee, which holds the record for Tasmania's lowest recorded temperature of -14.2°C (in August 2020).
- -1°C at Campania, just over half an hour northeast of Hobart, which was the small town’s chilliest October night in 17 years.
ACT
- -5.4°C at Mt Ginini in the Brindabella Range on the ACT/NSW border, which was within just 0.1°C of the coldest October night in the site’s 21 years of records.
- -0.2°C at Canberra.
Temperatures in all of the areas mentioned can be expected to warm up as the week progresses, but not before another frosty morning on Wednesday in elevated parts of Tasmania and in the mainland high country and nearby valleys.