Western Australia is once again showing off extremes on both ends, with the south-west shivering through its coldest winter day in a generation while parts of the north swelter under near-record heat.<\/p>\n
The calendar may say spring is only a week away, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it for much of the state.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the Perth metro area recorded a daytime maximum temperature of 11.4 degrees Celsius, its coldest day in more than 50 years since the figure was reached in July 1975.<\/p>\n
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The previous record for the coldest day in Perth was 11.4C in July 1975. (ABC News: Jack Stevenson)<\/p>\n
And no, we’re not talking about Perth in Scotland.<\/p>\n
The WA capital was forecast to reach a high of 14C but hadn’t even made it to the double-digit mark until 2pm.<\/p>\n
The city’s coldest day so far this winter was July 28, when the mercury reached 13.9C.<\/p>\n
Maximum temperatures were also 5 to 10 degrees below average across western parts of the state.<\/p>\n
That included Bickley, which was on track to beat its lowest maximum August temperature of 9.4C, reaching a top of 8.3C just before 3pm on Monday.<\/p>\n
Why is it so cold?<\/p>\n
The late winter chill is thanks to a pool of cold air moving through the south-west, which has delivered some locations their coldest day this winter.<\/p>\n
So what exactly is a cold pool?<\/p>\n
“Basically, we have cold fronts that come through and a cold front is a boundary between warm air ahead of it and cold air behind it,” Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) senior meteorologist Jessica Lingard said.<\/p>\n
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A cold pool cloud has been sitting over WA, from around Carnarvon down to Eucla.\u00a0 (Supplied: Bureau of Meteorology)<\/p>\n
“The cold pool is basically the cold pool of air that sits behind a cold front.”<\/p>\n
Perth remained cold on Monday as the cloud cover mostly prevented the sun from coming through and warming temperatures up.<\/p>\n
The cold pool stretched as far north as Geraldton and Meekatharra.<\/p>\n
When is the cold going to end?<\/p>\n
Don’t pack those extra blankets away just yet.<\/p>\n
As that cold air mass slowly moves in an easterly direction, we can expect things to warm up across the state on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
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The cold weather is expected to stay until the end of the week. (ABC News: Jack Stevenson)<\/p>\n
But lingering showers for the next two days mean maximum temperatures aren’t expected to really heat up until later this week.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019re aiming for a top of 16C [Tuesday], heading to 20C for both Saturday and Sunday, the last days of winter and then Monday, the first day of spring, a sunny top of 22C,” Ms Lingard said.<\/p>\n
A different story up north<\/p>\n
While much of the southern half layered up, folks across the Kimberley were sweltering under warmer than usual conditions.<\/p>\n
Parts of the region saw temperatures soar five degrees or more above average for the month.<\/p>\n
Wyndham Airport reached a steamy 38.5C, and Kununurra Airport not far off at 38.1C, their warmest days since early March and only about two degrees off their hottest August temperature.<\/p>\n
The warm weather is expected to stick around for at least the next week.<\/p>\n
What about all that rain?<\/p>\n
The cold front that moved through WA’s south-west on Sunday not only brought chilly temperatures, but strong winds and heavy rain.<\/p>\n