Australia’s Autumn Weather: A Snapshot Around the Country

Has anybody noticed that I haven’t spoken about the weather since 24th of March? Let’s sort that ridiculous situation out right now.

The four seasons in Australia.

I was sure I had written a post elsewhere on this blog about the four seasons here in Australia, but I can’t find it. So I thought today I would rewrite the whole thing and again explain the four seasons, when each starts and when each finishes. Here goes:

  • Summer: December to February
  • Autumn: March to May
  • Winter: June to August
  • Spring: September to November

There, all done.

But there’s more. Applying the above criteria to today’s date, I think we can all safely agree that right now Australia is slap bang-ish in the middle of autumn.

autumnNow I live in Brisbane, and as a local said to me the other day, “Brisbane isn’t really typical of the rest of Australia, is it?” As we wallowed in 31°C temperatures over the whole weekend here, I decided to give that quote some thought and wondered what the weather was like elsewhere.

So here’s a snapshot view of the weather around the whole country during the middle of autumn. First, let’s start with the five most populous cities, from the hottest down to the coolest. These were each city’s maximum temperatures so far this month…

  • Brisbane: 28.5°C
  • Perth: 27.0°C
  • Adelaide: 25.8°C
  • Sydney: 25.4°C
  • Melbourne: 23.5°C

As I mentioned earlier, it was definitely 31°C here in Brisbane over the weekend, so I can only assume these temperatures were taken at say, 12 noon. So each city may well have got to be a couple of degrees warmer. All had a minimum (night-time) temperature of around 15°C except Brisbane, which was a little warmer at 18°C.

Adelaide had about 40 to 50 mm of rain, Perth had no rain at all and the other three cities had between 10 and 20 mm.

Now our three lesser populated cities….

  • Darwin: 36.2°C with a minimum night-time temperature of around 25°C.
  • Canberra: 21.4°C with a minimum night-time temperature of around 9°C.
  • Hobart: 20.3°C with a minimum night-time temperature of around 8°C.

Rainfall levels in Hobart and Canberra were between five and 15 mm but over at Darwin they had bucketloads. Or to be more precise, over 100 mm of rain. Notice how it was warmer in the middle of the night in Darwin than it was during the hottest day-time temperature in Melbourne.

Looking at these figures is easy to understand why people who live in England, for example, regard all of Australia as hot. But here in Australia, distinctions are made. For example, Melbourne is regarded as having the worst weather out of the major five cities. The rumour is that summers are short, winters are cold and generally the weather can change very quickly, so a hot day can easily become a cold day instantly.

I will come back to this subject in around three months time and do another snapshot for the middle of winter. If you’re considering moving to Australia, then you need to choose where to live. I would think a major influential factor when making that choice would be the weather, so hopefully the information will be useful.

Speaking as someone who lives in Brisbane, even though I’ve not yet been here for three years, I am now entering my third autumn. And I already know that autumn, for me, is easily the best of all the four seasons.

If you live in Australia, perhaps you’d like to tell us in the comments below what you think of the weather where you are.

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{ 14 comments… add one }
  • Navneet kaur August 8, 2018, 3:27 pm |

    Why melbourne is worst ?? How ??

    • BobinOz August 8, 2018, 9:01 pm |

      Well, the answer to that was pretty much in the sentence that followed the claim.

      “The rumour is that summers are short, winters are cold and generally the weather can change very quickly, so a hot day can easily become a cold day instantly.”

      Generally speaking most people will say that the weather in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth is better than Melbourne’s, and it’s probably true the Adelaide has better weather as well, although it’s close between those two.

      Everybody’s idea of good weather varies though, so it’s not fact, but it’s probably something most people would agree with.

  • Shiela July 28, 2017, 12:04 pm |

    Hi Bob,
    Love your blog! Were moving in melb feb 2018 and your posts make me feel like im already there. My husband can learn a lot of humor and zest for life from you ill buy you both a beer. ??

    Im a fan,
    Shiela from Philippines

    • BobinOz July 29, 2017, 12:55 am |

      Thank you, I never say no to a beer 🙂 Good luck with your move, hope it all works out well and glad to hear my website helped you a bit along the way.

  • Graham J Saville July 17, 2017, 11:36 am |

    The reasen i asket.i live in Bilyana between Cardwell and Tully north QLD .i have been hear over 30 years and we have had one cyclone and a lot of bad weather every in Australia to me it has done its cycle .Ggraham j Saville

    • BobinOz July 17, 2017, 8:23 pm |

      Yes, I was in Cardwell last year, there was still a bit to be done, it had clearly copped a fair bit of damage from Cyclone Yasi five or six years ago. You certainly do get your fair share of bad weather up that way.

  • kay March 1, 2015, 11:32 pm |

    We are from Bundaberg QLD, we are reaching 25 degrees and humidity is currently at 87% at 11:23pm on the 1 March 15 with possible showers tomorrow how ever we did get some small showers today, it is very humid, people have been using there aircons or spending time in the shopping centres to escape the heat. We are ment to reach 32 degrees tomorrow with a chance of showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Be interesting to compare to 2011 and now to see how much it has changed over a few years.

    • BobinOz March 2, 2015, 12:13 am |

      12:12 AM here, Brisbane, 25° as well with the humidity at 76%. I find it absolutely splendid, no need for air-conditioning at all and hopefully tomorrow it will be 32° during the day; perfect 🙂

  • BobinOz May 25, 2011, 6:36 pm |

    Yes, that is a great weather round up for Melbourne Sally, thank you!

    As they say in Melbourne, four seasons in one day. And I too would take Melbourne’s weather over and above the UK’s weather any day.

  • Angela M Derzaph May 24, 2011, 2:17 pm |

    Great weather insight Sally!!

  • Sally May 24, 2011, 1:05 pm |

    Well here is my description of Melbourne weather for those that are interested. The weather can best be described as changeable and unpredictable. In summer it can be 42 celsius one minute and a welcome cool change will arrive and the temp. will drop to 25 celsius in 10 minutes. There are summer days when stepping outside is like getting into a hot oven as the heat is very dry. You can get coolish days, warm days and very hot days throughout the summer. Average would be about 25 degrees Celsius. Autumn is usually more stable with cool nights and sunny days. It is now late May and Winter weather is now upon us after a few warmish days. Winter in Melbourne is when most of the rain falls. Average temps by day would be about 13 degrees. There are days when the temp. drops below 10 degrees but they are not all that common. It can drop to zero at night on one or two occassions over Winter. It can snow on the hills on the rural outskirts. I would compare a Melbourne Winter to that of somewhere like Rome temp. wise. Spring is very changeable and can be damp. November can be 36 degrees one day and 18 the next. We get 4 distinct seasons in Melbourne which I like but I do envy the lovely winter weather of Brisbane and other places up north. We get lovely autumn foliage in Melbourne which is more unusual in the warmer climes further north. The weather in Melbourne might not be hot all year round but it is definately better than the UK.

  • Angela M Derzaph May 21, 2011, 2:26 am |

    Oops, should have included your videos as well.

    • BobinOz May 23, 2011, 6:22 pm |

      Angela, you’re making me blush!

      But thanks 🙂

  • Angela M Derzaph May 21, 2011, 2:16 am |

    Great Article Bob
    I have searched for weeks the Internet and bookstores on all things Australia and must say, your site and blogs are by far the
    best. Not only are they entertaining, they are jam packed with information! Through your eyes, you make Australia come alive!
    Sincerely
    Your Canadian Friend
    Angela M Derzaph

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