WHILE the city lapped up spring-like weather this week, locals shouldn't pack away scarves and beanies just yet.
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Maximum temperatures hovered around the 19 to 20 degree mark for most of the week in Griffith, but the mercury isn't expected to climb above 12 degrees today.
CSIRO senior technical officer David Smith said the last month of winter was likely to deliver some frosty conditions.
"It has been a pretty good week weather-wise, except for no rain, but we are in for a cold snap, particularly in the mornings where minimum temperatures will be around zero or less for five to six days starting this Saturday," Mr Smith said.
"Daytime temperatures in this period should reach 14 to 16 degrees."
He said minimum temperatures for July were 0.8 degrees below average, while maximum temperatures were 0.6 degrees above average.
"The coldest morning was -2.6 degrees and the warmest day was 21 degrees," Mr Smith said.
"Rainfall for the month was 19mm compared to the long term July average of 33mm."
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting a drier August to October period over southern NSW, with only a 40 per cent chance of exceeding the average rainfall.
Unfortunately, coupled to this lower than expected rainfall, there is a 65 to 80 per cent chance that both minimum and maximum temperatures will be higher than average during this period.
"Even though there has been some easing in model outlooks, the majority still indicate that an El Nino is likely to develop in spring," Mr Smith said.
"While there are some differences in the outlooks, the near average to drier than average signal is generally consistent between the models.
"Let's just hope they are wrong and that some good falls occur in the next few months.
"The farmers will certainly be looking for them."