Dear Winter,
Last week, I wrote an open letter to Grief, and I found the experience to be rather cathartic. So, I thought that I’d write to you too. ‘Cause while we have a more straightforward relationship, there’s something that you need to know. Winter, you have arrived too early, you have brought us cold weather too soon.
In Australia, the first day of winter is meant to be June 1. However, over the weekend, you’d feel like a fool for thinking this. NSW’s Bankstown hit 0.7C. Victoria’s Williamson hit 3.5C. Queensland’s Hughenden hit 1.4C. All of these places had their coldest May temps ever.
What’s more, this cold weather brought with it a tonne of frost. This frozen water was reported to be dusted everywhere, from the Northern Territory to Western Australia.
When discussing this cold snap, meteorologist Alison Osborne called Australia’s temps “well below average.” Well, winter being called “well below average” isn’t ideal.
Osborne also called May 28, 2023 the “coldest so far in Sydney and Canberra, with a number of May and autumn records at the lower end of the scale being easily broken.”
Meanwhile, today’s (May 29) weather isn’t as cold, but it’s still a far stretch from the heights of autumn. The minimum temperature for each capital city is as follows:
Additionally, Weatherzone has stated that some cooler weather will cover us on Tuesday. The cold weather snap will return. It’s like you want us to suffer.
Honestly, I hope that Weatherzone is wrong. ‘Cause I want a few more days of autumn. I want a couple more swims. I want to not need 5000 blankets.
Winter, I know that you won’t acknowledge this open letter. You’ll do as you please. If you want, you’ll barrel over the last days of autumn.
But hey, at least I scored some catharsis. And hopefully, these words will somehow keep my soul warm.
Yours Truly,
Joel Burrows
Related: An Open Letter to the Concept of Grief
Related: Climate Change — Do Your Choices Even Matter?
Read more stories from The Latch and subscribe to our email newsletter.