THE COLDEST morning of the year so far left Tamworth's early-risers feeling the chill as they awoke to a dusting of light frost blanketing the ground on just the second day of the winter season.
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The mercury dropped below freezing about 3:30am on Thursday morning and stayed there until after 7am, according to data from the city's only official weather station at the airport.
The temperature dipped to -1.7 degrees about 5:30am but the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said it felt like -5.4 degrees at that time.
According to the BoM, the coldest morning of this year before June 2 was on May 7, at zero degrees, and the following day the lowest temperature was just 0.4 degrees.
Jack Frost visited the region in the early hours of Thursday morning to mark the second day of winter.
The ice was only very thin and quickly melted away as the sun came up.
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The morning was freezing for residents across the region, with Gunnedah slightly colder than Tamworth.
The town hit a low of -2 degrees about 6am on Thursday, though the BoM said the air felt like it was -4.4.
Armidale's weather station clocked a temperature of -3.4 degrees early that morning but it felt like -7.9 degrees, according to the weather bureau.
Glen Innes recorded -5.4 degrees about 6:30am but the BoM said the apparent temperature was a chilly -10.2.
The wintry shift comes just days after wild winds swept through the New England North West and wreaked havoc as trees and powerlines fell on roads and even homes.
State Emergency Service (SES) workers, council clean-up crews and Essential Energy staff have had their work cut out for them every day this week as the response continued.
Power had been restored to most by Wednesday.
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