The mercury dipped well below zero on Friday but frothy pink blossoms that burst open on trees around the capital have given some hope that warmer weather will follow – eventually.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
National Arboretum senior horticulturalist Owen Bolitho said the blooms belonged to early-flowering apricot trees and it was common for them to flower this time of year.
"It's refreshing because it's a reminder that spring is on its way.
"It's just nice to see these things and it's going to get warmer eventually."
Mr Bolitho also corrected misconceptions and said the pretty display wasn't a sign of warmer than average temperatures, an early spring or climate change.
Canberrans who shivered through one of the chilliest mornings of the year on Friday were warned the freezing temperatures were set to continue throughout the weekend.
The mercury plunged to minus 7 in the early morning, which made it the equal coldest morning of the season with June 2.
Temperatures overnight dipped to minus 6.5 in Tuggeranong, minus 7 in the Snowy Mountains and Braidwood and minus 8 in Goulburn.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Sean Carson said the cold burst would continue through the weekend, with the mercury hovering between minus 5 and minus 7 on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
"They'll be beautiful, sunny days with no wind but we'll probably only have double figures for a couple of hours around 2pm before the temperatures start to drop and are below zero again by about 7pm."
A maximum temperature of 11 degrees was forecast for both days.
"During this season we often spend more of the day with temperatures below zero than we do above zero," Mr Carson said.
"The temperatures will often drop below zero by around 7pm and they don't get above zero again until 9am or 10am."
The chill also broughts falls of 5 to 7 centimetres to the NSW snowfields in recent days, which Mr Carson said would have cleared by Friday morning.
Fine conditions were predicted at the ski resorts for the weekend, with a chance of light snowfall on Tuesday.
"It will be very cold, frosty temperatures and they'll make plenty of snow but they still need a big dump soon."
Mr Carson said there was a small chance cold fronts, which had largely stayed south of NSW in recent weeks, could shift north the week after next bringing some more snow.
