Weather and Climate

Tour Australia

Climate
If youre planning a trip to Australia, you should make sure youre ready for the
weather.
The climate of Australia is its weather patterns measured over a long period of
time and over a large amount of space. The climate can inform you of the
average weather patterns for a particular town or region. Australia sits below
the equator, just on the tropic of capricorn, so its climate consists of four
distinctive seasons: Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring.

Weather
The weather refers to what is happening in the atmosphere over a relatively
short period of time; a day or two. The weather includes the temperature, wind
speed and cloud formation. For example, the weather could be 20Celsius with
low clouds and 30km per hour wind speeds. In this weather, which is very
common on the east coast of Australia in late Autumn through to early Spring,
it would be wise to wear a jacket, long pants, and keep an umbrella.

Australias Autumn: Temperature

Australias autumns are mild, with temperatures around low to mid twenties for most cities, so bring light
jumpers to Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, and a few longer pants, but be prepared also for warm to hot
days too. If you are travelling south to Victoria and Tasmania, be prepared for cooler weather, down to high
single digit temperatures, but if travelling
north to Darwin or Cairns areas, the
temperatures will still be in the high
twenties and you should therefore take
light, breezy garments, and only minimal
light jumpers for cooler nights.

Australias Autumn: Rainfall

Australias Autumns are its second wettest season, and especially in north-eastern Queensland and
south-western Tasmania, be
sure to keep an umbrella or
a raincoat on hand. It is
also not advisable to camp
at these locations, but if you
are set on it, always seek
advice from the SES, and
notify police of your location.

Australias Winters: Temperature

Australias Winter temperatures
are cool and dry. In the southeast, especially the ACT, Victoria
and Tasmania, temperatures can
go below freezing. Wearing long,
warm layers of clothing in this
weather is sensible, and if
planning on going to a
mountainous area, bring thick
wind and rain jackets. Up in the
northern reaches of Queensland,
Northern Territory and Western
Australia, temperatures remain
in the mid twenties, sometimes
reaching the thirties. In these
conditions it is favourable to wear
cotton or wool (light and
breathable) but the odd jacket or
cardigan wouldnt go amiss.

Australias Winters: Rainfall

Australias Winter rainfall is
minimal in the north, with fairly
isolated (to the rest of Australia)
heavy rainfall in Tasmania,
Victoria and around Perth.
These areas are also the coldest,
so keep in mind that umbrellas,
raincoats and sturdy
accommodation (as in; not
tents) are necessary. On the
east, lower and west coasts,
rainfall is likely about to of
the time, but is usually pleasant
and clears up within a day or
two.

Australias Spring: Temperature

Australias Springtime is
warm and wet. In some
northern parts of Australia,
temperatures can reach the
low thirties regularly. If
planning a holiday there,
wear light, breathable
materials (e.g. cotton, wool)
but take care to cover sun
sensitive skin, including
shoulders, thighs and feet
(use sunscreen liberally). In
the south, spring tends to be
cool, but not cold. Warm
clothes are necessary, but
give yourself options, in case
of a warmer day, or if
planning taxing physical
exercise.

Australias Spring: Rainfall

The top end is fairly low on rain
at this time of year, and has dry
sunny days until around
November, when it begins to
become humid. Wet weather
gear will become more useful
toward this time. The east coast
has patchy rainfall in spring, so
wet weather gear is encouraged,
though raincoats may be too hot
some days, so umbrellas come in
handy. In the south, rain comes
in heavy; bring multiple
umbrellas. In the west, wet
weather gear would be mostly
counter productive.

Australias Summer: Temperatures

Australian summers are
hot. In the north, it is
humid, too, so wear very
breathable clothing,
preferably wool, cotton and
linen. It becomes less
extreme the further south
you go - in sydney
temperatures are only
expected to reach the low
thirties, instead of the high
thirties, even low forties,
found in the arid deserts to
the west and north.
Southern Summers remain
mild to cool, and the
presence of long, warm
clothes is advisable.

Townsville Climate
This graph shows the average
maximum and minimum
temperatures for a particular
place, in this case: Townsville.
Townsville, being in northeastern Queensland, has
consistently high temperatures
all year round, because it is close
to the equator, and therefore
receives direct sun all year
round. The rainfall is so high in
the summer months because
northerly winds, bringing humid,
monsoonal weather are
prevalent. In the winter and early
spring months, dry, southerly
winds are prevalent, bringing
little rain.

Hobart Climate Graph

This climate graph of hobart is
very different from the Townsville
graph: the temperatures are much
lower, and the rainfall is much
steadier. This is because Hobart is
approximately 2500km south of
Townsville. This means that it is
significantly further away from the
sun, because of the Earths tilt.
The cooler temperatures can be
explained by this, and the rain can
be explained by constant low
pressure systems from the south.

Synoptic Charts/Weather Maps

This is a synoptic chart of Australia.
It shows the details of high
pressure systems in the far southwest and in the north-east (around
Townsville). High pressure systems
bring stable, sunny weather, and in
the southern hemisphere, winds
spiralling out anticlockwise. The
low pressure systems you can see in
the north and south, bring unstable,
rainy weather. For Hobart,
Melbourne and Adelaide this is not
uncommon. You can also see some
lines with spikes on them; cold
fronts. They bring a cool change in
temperature, usually it is fairly
sudden, and can be identified by a
line of clouds.

El Nio
El Nio means the little
boy. El Nio years bring
dry weather and drought for
extended periods of time,
and there is a slightly
smaller risk of cyclones
during these years. El Nio
occurs when the Pacific
Ocean near south America
becomes
significantly
warmer, and the ocean near
Australia cools down. The
cool
ocean
cools
the
atmosphere, which cools the
ocean, and so on, and cool
conditions large-scale bring
little rain.

La Nia
La Nia means the little girl and
is the opposite of El Nio. The
Pacific ocean near Australia
warms, bringing high risks of
flooding, and a higher risk of
cyclones.