Ballarat temperatures plunge below zero as winter begins

Police attended a minor accident on Ormond Rd, Wallace at 8.30am, near the Western Freeway interchange.

The cause is not yet known but no one was injured, police say.

It occurred as temperatures along the freeway remained about zero degrees after dawn and all ice warning lights were flashing.

While some vehicles slowed down to the recommended 40km/h at high risk areas like the Gordon overpass, others were observed to continue close to the 110km/h speed limit.

Two police crews also attended an 8am accident at Brown Hill, on the Melbourne-bound exit to the Western Highway.

Officers said the car was leaking liquid - and the accident was initially reported as a hazardous materials incident.

The incident caused traffic to slow for at least 40-minutes during the morning peak. The incident has since been cleared.

There were also several minor incidents within Ballarat including around the lake.

EARLIER

Winter has just arrived and the temperature before dawn was a chilly three degrees below zero, the coldest day of the year so far.

Clear skies after a series of cold fronts earlier in the week ensured a frost this morning.

The Bureau of Meteorology has posted a frost warning for the central district with low temperatures that can also bring the dangers of black ice on regional roads.

"Please be aware Temperatures at ground level can be many degrees lower than those recorded by standard weather stations, especially in calm conditions with very clear skies," the warning read.

"Frosts with temperatures down to -2 degrees are forecast for Thursday morning in parts of the Mallee, Wimmera, Northern Country, North Central, North East, South West and Central forecast districts."

The temperature reached -2.9c at around 3am in Ballarat.

Earlier in May a clear night also delivered a sub-zero temperature with 1.5c recorded on May 6.

The lowest June drop was -4.6c on June 13 1996, just short of the lowest on record for Ballarat of -6 on the winter solstice June 21 in 1982.

The often invisible threat waiting for motorists on a cold morning in the Central Highlands is just one of the things residents need to be guarded against.

SEND US YOUR WINTER PHOTOS: editassist@thecourier.com.au or by social media; www.facebook.com/ballaratcourier/

Ballarat Highway Patrol's Sergeant Ross Humphrey has often reminded people to ensure their windscreens were clear before heading out to work or school drop off.

He added that roads could also be frosty, so drivers should slow down and be a little more cautious.

There are two sets of black ice lights in the region, at the high point on the Western Freeway at Gordon and at Eganstown on the Midland Highway, but there are many other roads susceptible to the condition.

Read more: Ballarat's worse black ice spots, as identified by you

If misty and foggy when travelling, switch headlights on to be clearly visible to other road users and avoid a collision.

Sergeant Humphrey also warned cyclists and pedestrians to be cautious when crossing intersections, as motorists may have a hindrance of vision caused by fog or frost.

He also warned of the risk of black ice.

"Be aware there could be black ice around, so decrease your speed to reduce the risk of incident in the first place," he said.

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