Australia Climate

Weather and climate in Australia is as widely varying as the landscape. Although the perception that this country is generally dry and hot holds for many, seeing as large parts of Western Australian, the Northern Territory and central Australia are arid desert-type landscapes, there is definitely ‘shade,’ too.

One third of Australia lies above the Tropic of Capricorn, which means NT (particularly around its capital Darwin) and northern Queensland experiences warm to hot weather year round; warm and dry from May to October, and a hot ‘wet’ season from November to April. The arid inland – or the Outback, as it often referred to – has hot dry summers, cold nights and relatively cooler winters whilst only the southern parts of Australia experience something approaching European and American ‘seasons’, with cool, wet winters (especially cold are locations along the southern coast) and warm, dry Mediterranean-type summers.

As with any destination, some times of the year are more ideal than others for optimum enjoyment: in NT,  for instance, Kakadu National Park is ideal early in the dry season around May (this dry season period of between April – October is also a suitable time to tour northern Queensland's rain forests and beaches, with lower levels of humidity and fewer hazardous water life such as stinging box jellyfish.
Summers in the north hover in the mid to high 30s whilst ‘winter’ (June – August) brings daily averages of 20 to 24 degrees Celsius – however, rain is rare.

Seasons ‘Down Under’ are the inverse of the northern hemisphere; new visitors should note that summer starts in December, ‘ending’ in February (although, depending on your location, the hot weather can make the summer period seem never-ending). Summer in capital cities like Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne can reach maximums in the low 40s, but generally temperatures fall between 25 and 33 Celsius.

The other seasons follow accordingly: autumn (March to May); winter (June to August), and finally spring (September to November).
 
From November to March, the weather is generally warm countrywide, increasingly so the further north you travel, though this is also the Wet Season in the north, affecting NT and Queensland with periods of monsoonal weather (cyclones are not unheard of from January). Rain occurs sporadically in the south between April and September and can become heavy as winter progresses.

Winter is the skiing season in the south of the continent, specifically in the Great Dividing Range and Snowy Mountains (which receives more snowfall than the Swiss Alps!) in southern NSW. Here, skiers of varying skill and holiday-makers can find developed ski fields and resort accommodation, which reach a peak in popularity in August. Lovers of native flora should mark down spring in their calendar as the time to see Australian wildflowers in all their colour and glory in Central and Western Australia.

Elsewhere in the south snow is very uncommon (and unheard of further up). In Melbourne the barometer is generally mild year round, though summers can be scorching and winters, famously rainy and cool if not too cold, unlike Australia’s capital, Canberra, in the ACT, which can experience overnight lows of  below zero during winter, bitterly cold winds and chills due to its altitude and proximity to the Snowy Mountains.

Tasmania’s climate is temperate, with little in the way of temperature fluctuation tear round. One reason for this is its sheer size – no part of the state is further than 115 km from the coast. Summers in the island state are very mild, while winters can subject the western coast with much rain, and the inland to temperatures well below zero, as the Bass Strait which separates Tasmania from the mainland takes effect.

Much of the population reside in the milder southern parts of the country, but there’s always some corner of Australia’s expansive land and climate which holds charms all year around to locals and international visitors alike.


By: Leo Toh