More frost forecast for southern and central Qld as cold snap bites

More frost forecast for southern and central Queensland Mon 27 Jul 2026 at 5:15am In short: The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting morning frost for parts of Queensland's south and central areas this week. Rainfall is expected for northern and south-eastern parts of the state, bringing fog. What's next? Minimum temperatures could begin to warm towards the end of the week. More morning frosts are forecast across parts of Queensland that shivered through an "unusually cold" winter weekend. The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted temperatures to continue dipping below zero this week in central and southern Queensland. The chilly week follows some parts recording their coldest mornings of the season, including a minus five Sunday morning in the Darling Downs. Rain is also expected to make a return to the tropical North with falls between 20 and 40 millimetres forecasted. "It was certainly unusually cold over the weekend," senior meteorologist Shane Kennedy said. "Lots of places had their coolest mornings of the year." It is expected cold temperatures and rainfall could hang around until the end of the week. Coldest morning in years The Darling Downs out to Roma shivered through the weekend with locals waking up to thick frosts. Applethorpe and Oakey hit minus five degrees on Sunday morning, while Miles had its coldest morning since 2018 at minus 3.8 degrees. "It's partly due to some cooler air that was brought in from the south combining with clear skies overnight and light winds," Mr Kennedy said. Extensive frosts can be expected until the weekend as a high pressure system sticks around. Sub-zero temperatures could be felt in the northern interior to the south of Georgetown. "It probably won't be until Sunday when we will see the end of frost," Mr Kennedy said. "Until then, those morning temperatures will be pretty chilly." Scattered rain to fall Showers along the east coast are expected from Monday, with moderate rainfall predicted in the tropical north coast, particularly along the Cassowary Coast. The bureau has predicted showers to extend inland in the north as far as Richmond until Tuesday. The slight increase in moisture is expected to bring about perfect conditions for morning fog in the south-east on Tuesday and Wednesday. The central coast down to Rockhampton will likely miss out on any significant rainfall with mostly sunny conditions predicted. But that system is expected to dry up by Wednesday. "Further south, we'll have a weak trough cross southern Queensland on Tuesday and push offshore overnight on Tuesday," Mr Kennedy said. "That will help keep things cool but a bit sunnier." There is a chance more showers could return late in the week and into the weekend along the east coast, bringing stronger coastal winds.