Weather in Australia 2023 and up

[Mark]

Australia’s mean temperature was more than 1.2°C above average in 2025, making it the country’s 4th warmest year in more than a century of records.


Measuring national temperature in Australia

Australia's national average temperature is measured by combining observations from 112 weather stations spread across the country. These weather stations, which extend from coast to coast and include every state and territory, make up the Australian Climate Observations Reference Network – Surface Air Temperature (ACORN-SAT) dataset.


ACORN-SAT is the official dataset for monitoring Australia’s average temperatures over time, and it has reliable temperature observations dating back to 1910.


How did 2025 compare to other years?

Australia’s mean annual temperature in 2025 was 21.8°C, which was 1.23°C above the 1961-1990 average.


This was Australia’s 4th highest annual mean temperature since records commenced in 1910, falling behind temperature anomalies of:



+1.51°C in 2019

+1.45°C in 2024

+1.35°C in 2013


Abnormally warm annual temperatures were experienced across almost all of Australia in 2025, with the exception of a few places in northern Australia. Some areas of southern Australia had their warmest year on record.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/2025-was-australias-4th-warmest-year-on-record/1891117

[Mark]

Multiple states are set to swelter next week as a hot air mass spreads across parts of Australia.
The weather system will push temperatures towards the mid-to-high 40s in parts of Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and NSW.
The hot weather is expected to intensify over WA from this weekend before spreading across southern, central and south-eastern Australia next week.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-heatwave-multiple-states-set-to-swelter-as-hot-air-mass-spreads-across-the-country/afe271a6-1435-4f37-b8ff-71830be18a2d

[Mark]

Sydney’s maximum temperature peaked at 42.2°C this Saturday, January 10, making it the second time in the summer of 2025/26 that the harbour city has reached exactly that mark (the other day was December 19).


The Saturday scorcher made it the first time since 2013 that two days in the same Sydney summer have exceeded 42°C at the city's official weather station at Observatory Hill, near the southern pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.


Many Sydneysiders still remember that 2013 summer, as the mercury at Observatory Hill peaked at 45.8°C on January 13, which remains the site’s hottest day on record.


For those who love their heat stats, the hottest temperature ever recorded in any Sydney suburb (and indeed in any suburb of any Australian capital city) was a remarkable 48.9°C at Penrith, in far western Sydney at the foot of the Blue Mountains, on January 4, 2020.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/sydney-tops-42c-twice-in-summer-for-first-time-in-13-years/1891131

[Mark]

Victoria's Great Ocean Road has reopened to traffic around the communities smashed by extreme flash flooding as residents and holidaymakers begin the huge clean up.
Melanie and Martin were arriving at their Separation Creek home when the water came screaming through on Thursday.
"We heard this cracking, roaring, cracking, and watched as our bed in our second bedroom just literally flew out under the bridge, fully made up, pillows, duvets out to sea," Melanie said.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/cleanup-after-flash-floods-hit-great-ocean-road/2f0906f5-6880-4983-bd8b-f0f30236b324

[Mark]

Heavy rain that fell over the NSW South Coast on Thursday and Friday has edged north overnight, with over 100mm falling in the 24 hours to 9am Saturday over the Moruya and Ulladulla regions, with 80mm over parts of the Illawarra.


The rain has followed a low pressure system and trough offshore. With the heaviest rain wrapping around the southern part of the low, as its axis edged north, the rain went with it. That pattern will continue today, with the heaviest rain over the coming 24 hours expected in the Illawarra, Sydney and Hunter regions. Daily falls exceeding 100mm are again expected, aided by isolated thunderstorms.

Meanwhile, heavy rain has also yet again affected east Qld, with a continuing deep easterly airstream and another trough axis bringing heavy rain to the area inland of Mackay on Friday. Further north, the monsoon trough could help trigger a tropical low over the Gulf of Carpentaria later this weekend or early next week, maintaining moisture flow into northern Qld.


Further north again, a mass of cloud can be seen near Darwin. This intense convection is expected to form a tropical low in the coming 48 hours, and the northwest Top End region is on Flood Watch. The low should drift west after formation, with a high chance of developing into a tropical cyclone to the north of WA during next week. If cyclone development happened before crossing over WA waters, this would be the second cyclone to form over the Northern Region this season, following tropical cyclone Fina in December.


Whichever cyclone forms next will be the 7th over Australian waters this Wet, which has been a very active early season. The next comparable season for the number of early tropical cyclones is 1996/1997 when 7 cyclones had developed over Australian waters by mid-January.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/nsw-heavy-rain-wraps-north-while-lows-brew-in-the-tropics-/1891140

[Mark]

An intense and prolonged heatwave will sweep across Australia from this weekend into next week, causing temperatures to potentially approach 50°C and fuelling catastrophic fire danger ratings in some areas.


A large pool of hot air that has been building over Western Australia this week will spill across the country’s southern and southeastern states from this weekend. A stagnant weather pattern will then allow this heat to dig in and intensify over Australia’s southeastern inland next week, which will cause a severe to extreme heatwave and likely challenging January maximum temperature records in several states.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/intense-heatwave-spreading-across-australia-catastrophic-fire-danger-in-sa-on-saturday/1891157

[Mark]

Two South Australian locations – Andamooka and Port Augusta – have reached 50°C during the past two days as a gruelling week-long heatwave continues to grip several states.


A large pool of extremely hot air has been lingering over southern and southeastern Australia this week thanks to a slow-moving upper-level high pressure system creating a phenomenon known as a ‘heat dome’.


A heat dome occurs when hot air gets trapped beneath an upper-level high pressure system and air descending towards the ground makes the near-surface air become even hotter – a process called subsidence warming. When these heat domes last for several days, like we have seen this week, the heat can become extreme.


SA outback hits 50°C

A weather station at Andamooka, a small town located near Roxby Downs about 600 km to the north of Adelaide, registered a maximum temperature of 50.0°C on Thursday. One day later, Port Augusta also reached 50.0°C shortly before 3pm ACDT. These were both new maximum temperature records at these locations.


Prior to this week, 50°C had only officially been recorded in SA on two occasions. These were both in 1960 when Oodnadatta reached 50.7°C on January 2 and 50.3°C on January 3.


This week's pair of 50°C maximum temperatures were also the 8th and 9th 50°C on record in Australia.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/australia-records-first-50c-in-four-years/1891172

[Mark]

Some residents in Queensland's north have been forced to flee their homes after an overnight downpour sparked a sudden flood emergency.
Etheridge Shire Council issued a flash flooding emergency warning today for people in all areas of Einasleigh, about 380 kilometres north-west of Townsville, to evacuate.
Overnight rainfall totals tipped 220 millimetres in the Copperfield River catchment.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/flooding-residents-of-rural-queensland-town-urged-to-evacuate-as-floodwaters-rise/24c43d48-e987-42db-a981-1264a24b4974

[Mark]

Heavy rainfall has caused flash flooding across parts of south-east Queensland and northern NSW, with more to come this evening as the system pushes north.
The Bureau of Meteorology is warning Queensland's Wide Bay Burnett and south-east coast will see six-hourly rainfall totals of between 50mm and 100mm and up to 150mm in some areas.
The severe weather warning extends from Coolangatta on the border, north to Maryborough and as far north-west as Monto.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/wet-weather-rain-south-east-queensland-northern-new-south-wales-weather-warnings-news/ef741193-214e-453f-a3a9-5dbc74bf7be1

[Mark]

When storms set in late on Wednesday night and continued into this Thursday morning in Alice Springs, it made it eight days straight that the iconic Northern Territory outback city had seen rain.


The total rainfall over the eight-day streak was 125.2mm, with the 43.4mm recorded in the 24 hours to 9am Thursday being the heaviest single day of rain. There were reports of multiple rescues as flash flooding occurred in and around the normally dry Todd River.


No additional rain was recorded on Thursday between 9am and 3pm, although some showers were still in the area, meaning the streak may extend to nine days.


How unusual are Alice Springs rainfall events lasting over a week?

Alice Springs receives a relatively meagre 283.7mm of rainfall on average each year, spread out over an average of 42.9 rain days.


That means the city can expect less than one rain day per week across the year, which makes eight-day wet spells (or longer) very much a rarity. But they are not unprecedented:


The last time it rained on eight consecutive days in Alice Springs was in June/July 2023, when the streak actually lasted nine days, delivering 31mm in total.
You have to go back 44 years to find an eight-day streak of wet days in February.

What caused the last eight days of rainfall?

The loop below shows the storms lashing the Alice Springs area overnight.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/unusual-eightday-rainy-streak-in-alice-springs/1891196

[Mark]

The remote community of Alpurrurulam in the Northern Territory has recorded 250 millimetres of rain since 11pm last night, more than twice its monthly average, and its biggest downpour in more than 10 years. This has taken the four-day rain total beyond 400mm.

The Barkly Tablelands community, about 180 kilometres west of Mount Isa, recorded most of that rain (205mm) in six hours between 11pm and 5am. As a result, flooding has now set in, threatening to isolate Alpurrurulam and nearby Lake Nash Cattle Station. The road in and out, the Sandover Highway, has reportedly already become undrivable in the area.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/remote-nt-community-cops-biggest-downpour-in-over-a-decade/1891211

[Mark]

Heavy rain across large parts of the Barkly and Central Australia over the past three days has closed roads and inundated cattle stations, with more wet weather forecast to be on the way.

A tropical low has been circling in recent days in the Simpson and parts of the Barkly and Tanami areas, bringing heavy local rainfall and damaging winds.

The severe weather is expected to continue into tonight and early tomorrow morning, with a storm Watch and Act advisory declared today.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has advised locally intense rainfall that could lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding is possible across the southern Barkly and northern Simpson districts, as well as rainfall totals of up to 200 millimetres and damaging winds of up to 90 kilometres per hour.

It is also forecasting the chance of thunderstorms tonight across much of the NT, excluding the south-west, and severe thunderstorms in a broad area south of Daly Waters.

The BOM said it could not be certain about the position and strength of the upcoming wet weather, but urged residents to stay up to date with warnings.



https://www.sott.net/article/504829-Heavy-rain-soaks-Central-Australia-closing-roads-and-inundating-cattle-stations-2-feet-of-rainfall-in-48-hours

[Mark]

The low pressure system over the country’s interior has been slowly moving southward, as stated in Anthony Sharwood’s story, leading to increased heavy falls over South Australia and Victoria. Flooding rainfall persists over South Australia, with a severe weather warning active for every district in the state. Yesterday the heaviest falls were recorded in the state’s west, with 24-hour totals recorded and estimated to have reached: 


180mm at Ooldea  (midday Fri 27th to midday Sat 28th)

124mm at Perlubie

120mm at Wirrulla

112mm at Mundamuckla

101mm at Gawler Ranges

100mm at Maralinga

In the 24 hours to 9am this morning (28th February) South Australia saw: 


103mm in Minnipa (and a further 25mm+ from 9am)

75.2mm in Ceduna (and a further 30mm+ from 9am)

69.0mm in Wudinna (and a further 15mm+ from 9am)

45.4mm in Parndana 

33.0mm in Rayville 

31.0mm in Woomera

 For many places in the state's west, it's been the heaviest rain in several years, decades in some places.


Victoria also experienced heavy falls yesterday. Some cities in western Victoria saw the heaviest rainfall in the 24 hours on February 27th than they had seen in the last 3-8 years, if not the highest February falls in a decade! Some of these cities include: 


Horsham saw 96.4mm in 24 hours. The heaviest fall on record for the city (where the record starts at 1998). Of this 96.4mm, approximately 91.0mm of it fell in one hour!

Longerenong saw 52.6mm in 24 hours. The heaviest fall since November 2018, and heaviest February rain since 1973 

Warracknabeal saw 47.8mm in 24 hours. The heaviest fall since January 2022 

Edenhope saw 32.4mm in 24 hours. The heaviest fall since November 2023, and heaviest February rain since 2020 

Kilmore Gap saw 24.4mm in 24 hours. The heaviest February rain since 2013 

Latrobe Valley saw 30.2mm in 24 hours. The heaviest February rain since 2015 

Charlton saw 27.2mm in 24 hours. The heaviest February rain since 2016 
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/update-heavy-rain-drenching-south-australia-and-victoria-and-much-more-to-come/1891225

[Mark]

Sydney and much of eastern NSW are set for a wet and stormy weekend, with showers, thunderstorms and heavy bursts of rain likely across the region. The heaviest falls are expected on Sunday, when the risk of flash flooding will be highest.

A lingering trough will generate showers and thunderstorms on Saturday, with falls of around 30-50mm possible across parts of the east, including Sydney. Locally heavier totals above 50mm may occur in thunderstorms.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/heavy-downpours-for-sydney-and-eastern-nsw-this-weekend/1891250

[Mark]

Major flooding in Queensland is flowing to the west of the state, with the town of Longreach expected to reach its peak tonight.
The outback town is bracing for a flood peak of 6.7 metres from this evening.
Earlier today, floodwaters were slowly but steadily rising and seeping into the streets.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/longreach-flooding-residents-of-outback-queensland-town-on-alert-for-major-flooding-to-reach-its-peak-tonight/7eebd72a-6c8d-44ce-9e45-7dd1d2140141

[Mark]

A cleanup is under way in Far North Queensland after Tropical CycloneNarelle swept over the Cape York Peninsula, narrowly missing populated communities.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said the tropical cyclone left the east coast of Cape York, just south of Aurukun overnight, delivering "sizeable winds and some pretty reasonable rain" despite being downgraded to a category 2 system.
"It walked a tightrope perfectly between Coen and Lockhart River, and then ducked just south of Aurukun as it exited on the western side of the Cape," Crisafulli said.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/tropical-cyclone-narelle-queensland-northenr-territory/9ee10929-7df3-4aee-a3f0-781bf8a72bfc

[Mark]

Western inland WA is expected to be the hottest part of Australia this Saturday, as temperatures are expected to soar to the high 30s for the southwest corner, and into the low 40s for the northwest corner.

A surface trough extending down WA's west coast to north of Albany, combined with plentiful sunshine has allowed temperatures to rise as much as 7-10°C above the March average through the last few days.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/intense-late-season-heat-continues-for-western-australias-west/1891273

[Mark]

Winter has arrived early in southeastern Australia, with fresh snowfall reported across the alpine regions.

Falls Creek has posted its first snow of 2026, with 8 cm (3.1 in) settling so far as temperatures dropped to -2C (28F).

The event wasn’t isolated. Snow was reported across the wider Australian Alps, including resorts such as Mount Hotham, Perisher, and Thredbo — all registering their first falls of the year.

The cold outbreak drove temperatures below freezing across elevated terrain, allowing snow to settle unusually early. Authorities warned that blizzard conditions hit some alpine areas as the system moved through, before easing into the weekend.

March snow certainly isn’t unprecedented in the Australian Alps, but an 8 cm settling is a solid early-season hit.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/early-snow-for-aussie-alps-a-meter

[Mark]

Residents of southeast Queensland woke up to dramatically cooler temperatures this morning. In fact, the following Queensland locations experienced their coldest March morning on record:

Amberley's minimum temperature of 6.2°C was the coldest March temperature in more than 84 years of records.

Toowoomba's temperature of 8.1°C was the coldest March temperature in more than 29 years of records.

Gold Coast Seaway's temperature of 12.8°C was the coldest March temperature in more than 32 years of records.




Image: minimum temperatures for Saturday, 28 March 2026. Source: Weatherzone.


In Brisbane, the temperature dropped to 14.1°C this morning, making it the coldest March morning in 18 years. It was also the coldest temperature recorded in the River City since early October.

Why did it get so cold this morning? One contributing factor was a southwesterly change which occurred yesterday, 27 March 2026. Southwesterly winds yesterday ushered in a much drier air mass, lowering the dew point in Brisbane from 15.8°C at noon to -2.4°C at 7pm, and making these record-breaking cold temperatures possible.

This cold snap will be short-lived. East to southeast winds will return for the new week, bringing higher dew points as well as milder overnight temperatures.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/coldest-march-temperatures-on-record-for-parts-of-southeast-queensland/1891283

[Mark]

The tourist town of Exmouth in Western Australia has been completely cut off as the clean-up from ex-tropical cyclone Narelle begins.
Narelle weakened to a subtropical low as it moved south-east, inland from Geraldton.
It was expected to leave the mainland between 8pm and 9pm (11pm - 12am AEDT) yesterday evening through the Great Australian Bight between Albany and Esperance.
READ MORE: The rise of Looksmaxx
https://www.9news.com.au/national/tropical-cyclone-narelle-severe-storm-batters-western-australia-coastline/5f398dd7-33fb-4e2e-8226-79371f263552