Weather and Climate in Australia

Current Weather

bom.gov.au - for current weather forecasts, warnings, observations, and radar images visit the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology web site

Australian weather news: weatherchannel.com.au, theweather.com.au, and weatherzone.com.au

Climatic zones of Australia

Tropical Zone – north of the Tropic of Capricorn with two seasons: the Dry (April – November) and the Wet (December – March).

Central Zone – hot summer, and cool nights in the winter.

Southern Zone – Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania.

A detailed map climate zones based on temperature and humidity can be accessed on the Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology web site

Another important component of Australian weather are severe droughts that return every two to seven years and associated with phenomenon known as El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

To learn more about ENSO, you can visit following websites: University of Nebraska-Lincoln National Drought Mitigation Center, Australian Bureau of Meteorology ENSO Wrap-Up, US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Diagnostics Center ENSO pages.

The seasons in Australia are the reverse of the Northern Hemisphere.

Quick weather info on major Australian cities

	Mean Temperatures (°C)				Rain
	January		July		(mm)
Location	Max	Min	Max	Min	Annual
Adelaide	28.5	16.6	14.9	7.5	553
Alice Springs	36.1	21.2	19.5	4.0	274
Brisbane	29.2	21.0	20.6	9.5	1189
Canberra	27.8	12.9	11.1	-0.2	631
Darwin	31.8	24.8	30.4	19.3	1666
Hobart	21.5	11.7	11.5	4.5	624
Melbourne	25.7	14.0	13.3	5.8	661
Perth	31.5	16.8	17.7	8.1	869
Sydney	26.3	18.5	16.9	6.7	1220

Australia is a large continent with diverse climate and weather.