VICTORIA is facing its coolest start to November in almost two decades, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).
BoM extreme weather desk meteorologist Dean Narramore said the cold weather outbreak has hit the whole of south-east Australia.
“We’re seeing temperatures anywhere between 5-10 degrees below average across much of the region,” Mr Narramore said.
“Even places like Mildura are looking at temperatures from 20-21 degrees, which is about eight or nine degrees below average for this time of year.”
He said the cold front is being driven by a large high pressure system that is sitting above the Great Australian Bite.
“Because we’re to the east of the high, we get southerly winds, and it’s very, very slowly moving, so we’re not going to see that high move anywhere in the next week,” he said.
“There are southerly winds coming from south of the country as well, so bringing in that cooler air off the oceans.”
He said temperatures aren’t expected to warm up until the end of next week.
“Temperatures will be well below average until about Wednesday next week, where we should see temperatures turn back towards average by Thursday or Friday, rising to the mid to late 20s,” he said.
“To give you a taste of what’s coming, Perth is probably looking at its hottest start to November on record, with temperatures averaging about 31 degrees, and maybe in another 10 days, when that weather system moves out to the east of us, we’ll finally see some of that heat move into Victoria.”
He said there’s not a lot of rain forecast for Victoria in the coming week.
“We may see some light showers for parts of the Mallee on Saturday and then on Sunday night into Monday morning, and also for our friends in the far north-east of the state, and also into east Gippsland,” he said.
“But generally for much of the state, we’re not expecting much more than five millimetres in the next 10 days.”
He said there might be a bit of frost this weekend.
“There’s a very weak front moving through the southern parts of the state today, with a few hit and miss showers, and that is bringing some cold air,” he said.
“Unfortunately for the ags out there, we could see a bit of frost develop, especially in the western and south-western parts of the state.”
Culgoa cropper Cameron Warne said things haven’t been too wet for him this season, but he’s still considering himself lucky.
“We’ve had our moments, it hasn’t been particularly wet, we had a dry September, but a good April and May, where it was quite wet,” Mr Warne said.
“With all the dire forecasts at the start, we’re lucky that we backed in our rotation, and it’s turned out well.”
He said it has been quite cool so far.
“We had one hot, windy day, which caused a bit of damage, but other than that it’s been quite cool,” he said.
“Our lentils, chickpeas, canola, and wheat are all looking around average, perhaps slightly above average, but it’s hard to tell how it will end up until we get in there.”
Toolleen farmer Rodger Kemp said he’s had minimal recent rain.
“We were lucky to have had a couple of heavy showers about three weeks ago, over about three days,” Mr Kemp said.
“The crops still need a little bit more rain, as some aren’t fully finished.”
He said the grass is looking finished.
“There is plenty of grass in the paddocks, a lot of it is poor quality, but there’s plenty of it,” he said.
He said it has been cooler than average, but not as cool as last year.
“I’m happy with this weather and the way it’s going, it’s kept the fly problems to a minimum, and the grass will hang on and be a bit greener for longer,” he said.
“Once we get closer to getting ready for harvest, we’ll be hoping for some warmer weather, but that could be another month away.”