Freezing temperatures have been recorded across a widespread area of the Hunter Region in the last 7 mornings. This morning Williamtown recorded a low of -1.7°C making it the coldest August morning since 1970. The cold nights started end of last week in the wake of a cold front that hit the Hunter Region during the afternoon on Wednesday the 10th of August. The cold front brought substantially cold air in the lower troposphere and resulted in dry conditions near the surface. Light snowfalls fell on the mountain areas of the upper Hunter and small hail was observed in the afternoon of the 10th of August in isolated areas of the lower Hunter. The combination of the cold air and the clear, calm conditions that followed the cold front caused the temperature to plummet by the night.

Murrurundi has officially experienced the coldest nights and mornings so far across the region. On Saturday the 13th of August, the temperature got down to -6.2°C early in the morning. This was the coldest August night recorded in Murrurundi since 1994. Further more, six of the seven past mornings have been below 0°C at Murrurundi. The warmest morning recorded in the past week at Murrurundi has only been 0.5°C.

Other minimum temperatures recorded in the past 7 mornings include -2.5°C at Cessnock, -4.0°C at Singleton, -3.7°C at Scone Airport and -2.0°C at Maitland. Newcastle University recorded a milder low temperature of 1.8°C this morning. The milder temperature at Newcastle University reflects its urbanised location of the station and its closer proximity to the ocean.

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