If you're wondering why it was so cold on Monday, it's because just witnessed the coldest night of the year.
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According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Mount Isa experienced the coldest night of 2022, dropping to an overnight temperature of 1.6 degrees on August 15.
Meteorologist Livio Regano said the weather was caused by the coldest and driest conditions you could have in August.
"A south westerly, it pulls air as quickly as possible from the Antarctic and gets it up here as fast as it can before it has a chance to warm up," Mr Regano said.
"Because it has travelled half the continent before it gets to Mount Isa, it is very dry and the winds have been light allowing the cold to settle to the ground. Last night the winds were nice and calm so the temperature dropped like a sack of potatoes."
Temperatures had slowly started to drop over the weekend, with Saturday recording an overnight temperature of 9.2 degrees and Sunday recording 4.5 degrees, before reaching 1.6 degrees Monday morning.
This did not trump the 2000 record of -1.1 degrees, but Mr Regano said it was highly likely to be the coldest day Mount Isa experienced for the year.
"Tomorrow (Tuesday) temperatures will start to rise again. As temperatures recover and now we are heading into the second half of August, it's getting harder and harder by the day to get cold nights because the sun is rising earlier and earlier.
"Once this episode of south westerly conditions is over, towards the weekend, by the time the next one comes through the chances it will get this cold is highly unlikely.
"This morning will probably be the coldest morning we will have for the rest of the year."
Monday is expected to reach a top of 26 degrees, Tuesday a top of 26 degrees and overnight low of 9, Wednesday top of 26 and low of 7, Thursday top of 29 and low of 8, Friday top of 28 and low of 10.
Into the weekend, Saturday and Sunday will reach a top of 27 degrees and a low of 9 degrees.
As for the lake levels, Lake Moondarra is sitting at 41.6 per cent and Lake Julius is at 87.5 per cent capacity.
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Samantha Campbell
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
