Australia
22 cities
Climate overview
Australia stretches from 11°S to nearly 44°S, spanning six major Köppen climate groups, from equatorial in the far north to temperate in the south with vast deserts and grasslands in the heartland, on the world's flattest and driest inhabited continent. The subtropical ridge drives extreme aridity across the interior: the Great Sandy, Gibson, Simpson, and Great Victoria deserts mostly receive under 300 mm annually, and endorheic Lake Eyre remains dry most years.
A semi-arid transition ring surrounds the desert core, giving way to tropical monsoon climates (Aw/Am) in the far north where Darwin exceeds 1,700 mm in the November–April wet season, Mediterranean zones (Csa) around Perth and Adelaide with 500–750 mm falling mostly in winter, humid subtropical (Cfa) conditions along the east coast from Brisbane to Sydney (about 1,000–1,100 mm, most of it in summer and autumn), cool oceanic (Cfb) climates in Tasmania where the west coast tops 2,400 mm, and alpine pockets in the Snowy Mountains.
Rainfall extremes define the continent: Mt Bellenden Ker in northeastern Queensland recorded over 12,000 mm in its wettest year, while vast interior tracts receive below 250 mm. The Outback regularly sees summer maxima above 40°C: Marble Bar endured 160 consecutive days above 37.8°C in 1923–24. Major bushfires have marked the landscape, notably Black Saturday in February 2009 and the Black Summer season of 2019–20.
ENSO oscillations control much of the interannual variability: El Niño events bring drought to the east, La Niña episodes trigger widespread flooding, and tropical cyclones affect the northern coast from November to April. The subtropical ridge reinforces the continent's dry character and concentrates population along the better-watered coastal fringes.
Our archive covers 22 Australian cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The hottest July afternoons are in Darwin, with average highs around 31.1°C, while Ballarat has the coldest January nights, with average lows near 12.2°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 0.9°C.
How the climate has shifted in Australia
Average across 22 cities with full ERA5 coverage: 1940–1970 baseline vs the last decade (2016–2025).
- Annual mean temperature
- 17.7°C→18.6°C
- Days above 30°C per year
- 34 days→47 days+13
- Frost days per year
- 2 days→2 days+0
- Tropical nights (≥20°C) per year
- 76 nights→92 nights+16
Warmest year in the record so far: 2024.
What's unusual right now
From a snapshot of the world's largest cities updated each hour. Today's mean temperature compared with each city's long-term average for the same calendar date (ERA5 climatology, 1940 onward). Last 30 days uses each city's rolling daily-mean vs its monthly average. Not a global ranking.