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Townsville weather by month: averages, rainfall & climate trends

Warmth in Townsville is remarkably steady: only 7.8°C separates the warmest month from the coolest, so there is no cold season to speak of. Rainfall is strongly seasonal: the bulk of the year's rain falls between December and March. Townsville weather by month: average temperatures, rainfall, extremes and how the climate has changed since 1940.

Today vs average

−0.5°Chigh near average

29° / 22°Today
29° / 22°Average
see today in detail →

How it's changed

+0.9°Caverage temperature, 2016–2025 vs 1940–1949average temperature vs 1940–49140days above 30°C a year now (2016–2025) · 100 in the 1940sdays above 30°C · 100 in the 1940s+0.9°C vs the 1940s · see how it's changed →
Weather by montha typical year, averaged over the full recordJanuary, rain 213 mmhigh 31°low 25°February, rain 218 mmhigh 31°low 24°March, rain 144 mmhigh 30°low 23°April, rain 55 mmhigh 29°low 22°May, rain 33 mmhigh 27°low 19°June, rain 23 mmhigh 25°low 16°July, rain 17 mmhigh 25°low 15°August, rain 15 mmhigh 26°low 16°September, rain 12 mmhigh 28°low 19°October, rain 22 mmhigh 29°low 21°November, rain 47 mmhigh 31°low 23°December, rain 105 mmhigh 31°low 24°wettest month February, 218 mm · 903 mm a yearsee month by month →

Right now

What it's doing today vs the historical average for this date.
Partly cloudy

Right now

24.6°

28°feels like
82%humidity
21°dew point
10 km/hfrom NE
UV index0.0
sunrise05:38sunset18:16day length12h 37m
TodayPartly cloudy29°22°
ThuPartly cloudy29°23°
FriOvercast27°24°
SatShowers27°24°
SunPartly cloudy29°24°
MonPartly cloudy30°24°
TueMostly clear31°25°

On this date: October 21

Today (forecast)
29° / 22°
Average for October 21
29° / 22°

High near average · −0.5°C

  • Highest since 1940: 34.0° · 1962
  • Lowest since 1940: 17.7° · 2008
  • One year ago: 30° / 21°

Every October 21 in history, coldest to hottest

▲ Daily highs▼ Daily lows

Dots show daily highs (top) and lows (bottom) for each October 21 on record (n = 86). Outlined dots are today's forecast.

Area we sample

Each city's history comes from one ERA5 grid cell, about 28 km across, shown by the dashed box. Near mountains or coasts, conditions can vary across the cell.

Location & data

Historical weather for Townsville is sampled from the ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at 19.27°S, 146.81°E, with daily records since 1940.

Coordinates
19.27°S, 146.81°E
Time zone
Australia/Brisbane
Period
1940–2026
Data source
ERA5 (ECMWF)

Last 30 days

8 of the last 30 days were warmer than the historical average for that date. Average difference: −0.5°C.

Each bar is one day, from morning low to afternoon high. Warm-colored bars are days whose mean ran above average; cool bars ran below. The dot inside the bar is the daily mean. The shaded band is the typical 10–90% range expected for that date. Average = the day's mean temperature averaged across every year of record (1940–2026) for that calendar date.

This date over the years

One dot per year, showing the mean temperature on this calendar date. Dots are warmer or cooler than the long-term average (dashed line); the shaded band is the typical 10–90% range, and the highlighted dot is today's forecast. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Weather by month

Average temperatures and rainfall for each month: a typical year, from the full record.

Climate overview

The warmest month is January, with typical afternoon highs of 31.0°C and nights around 24.7°C. In a typical recent year, around 140 days reach 30°C or more. The coolest month is July, when afternoons reach about 24.6°C and overnight lows sit around 15.4°C.

In total, Townsville averages about 903 mm of precipitation a year; February is usually the wettest month (218 mm) and September the driest (12 mm).

The record here starts in 1940, and since then the annual mean in Townsville has climbed 0.9°C from the first ten years to the last ten. The last decade has also run wetter, about 51% above the long-term precipitation average.

Climate graph (climograph)

January is the warmest month, July the coolest: a yearly swing of 8°C. Wettest month: February (~218 mm). Whole year averages ~903 mm of rain.

Bars = average monthly rainfall (right axis). Lines = average daily high and low (left axis). Average = each month's value averaged across every year of record (1940–2026).

Monthly wind

Average daily peak wind at 10 m, by month.

Monthly solar energy

Average daily incoming solar energy in megajoules per square metre: the record's own proxy for how sunny the month is.

Townsville month by month: what to expect

Typical conditions for each month, averaged across the full record (since 1940). Daylight is the time from sunrise to sunset. Highest and Lowest are the most extreme values in the ERA5 dataset (modelled since 1940), so they can differ from official weather-station readings.

MonthAvg highAvg lowRainDaylightHighestLowest
January31.0°24.7°213 mm13.0 h42.5° (1994)19.5° (2001)
February30.5°24.5°218 mm12.6 h43.2° (1969)19.5° (1958)
March30.0°23.5°144 mm12.1 h38.4° (2022)17.5° (1970)
April28.9°21.6°55 mm11.6 h35.1° (1995)12.4° (1994)
May26.9°18.9°33 mm11.1 h31.8° (2016)8.5° (2000)
June24.9°16.2°23 mm10.8 h31.1° (1996)6.7° (2000)
July24.6°15.4°17 mm10.9 h31.6° (1995)6.3° (1990)
August25.7°16.3°15 mm11.3 h34.1° (1968)6.8° (2012)
September27.5°18.6°12 mm11.9 h35.9° (2003)10.4° (2011)
October29.3°21.4°22 mm12.5 h37.3° (1962)14.1° (1989)
November30.6°23.3°47 mm12.9 h41.5° (1990)17.0° (1986)
December31.3°24.4°105 mm13.2 h42.6° (1995)18.5° (1964)

How it's changed

Year-by-year signals from 1940 to today.

Climate stripes

Annual mean shifted from 1940–1949 to 2016–2025 by +0.9°C.

Each vertical stripe is one year. Color encodes how much that year's annual mean differed from the long-term average. Average = each year's annual mean compared to the average of all years (1940–2026). cooler ← → warmer

Annual mean temperature

Long-term trend: +0.12°C per decade.

One point per year, showing the temperature averaged across the whole year. The dashed line is the least-squares long-term trend. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Seasonal warming

Dec–Feb is warming fastest: +0.16°C per decade.

Each faint line is one three-month period's average per year; the bold dashed line is its long-term trend. Different parts of the year often warm at different rates. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Hot days vs frost days

Days ≥ 30°C per year: 100.0 early in the record → 140.4 recently. Frost days: 0 → 0.

Thin lines are raw yearly counts; thick lines are the smoothed trend that removes year-to-year noise. The hot-day threshold is auto-picked per city so the line actually moves. Average = a centered 5-year rolling average to smooth weather noise.

Yearly hot & cold extremes

Hottest day since 1940 in 1969, coldest in 1990: 43.2°C / 6.3°C.

One point per year: the single hottest and coldest day recorded that year.

Annual rainfall

~903 mm/year on average. Last decade: +51% vs that average. Long-term trend: +58 mm per decade.

One bar per year of total rainfall. Dashed line is the long-term average. Average = the average annual rainfall across every year of record (1940–2026).

Day-by-day grid

Each tiny square is one calendar day across the full record, about 30,000 days per city. Use the mode switch above the chart: Anomaly colors each day by how far it ran from the historical average for that date (red = warmer, blue = cooler), Daily mean temp shows the absolute mean temperature for the day (useful to see seasons and heatwaves), and Precipitation shows daily rainfall (useful to spot wet/dry seasons and droughts). Average = the long-term average for that calendar date (1940–2026).

Frequently asked questions about Townsville

Which is the warmest month in Townsville?
On long-term average, the warmest month in Townsville is January (mean daily temperature of about 27.4°C) and the coolest is July (about 19.6°C).
How does today's temperature in Townsville compare to the historical average?
On October 21, 2026, Townsville is forecast to reach a high of 29.0°C and a low of 22.2°C. The long-term average for this date (the full record since 1940) is a high of 29.5°C and a low of 21.8°C, so today's high is about equal to that average.
How much has Townsville warmed since 1940?
Comparing the first decade of the record (1940–1949) with the most recent (2016–2025), the annual mean temperature in Townsville is about 0.9°C warmer.
How much does it rain in Townsville?
Townsville receives about 903 mm of precipitation per year on long-term average, with February typically the wettest month.
What is the average temperature in Townsville?
Over the full record (since 1940), the annual mean temperature in Townsville is about 24.2°C. The warmest month is January and the coolest is July.
What are the average temperatures in Townsville by month?
Average daily highs and lows for each month in Townsville (°C, full record since 1940): January 31°/25°, February 31°/24°, March 30°/23°, April 29°/22°, May 27°/19°, June 25°/16°, July 25°/15°, August 26°/16°, September 28°/19°, October 29°/21°, November 31°/23°, December 31°/24°.

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