Updated: 11 March 2004
Climatic Extremes
Record Temperatures
Several places can claim to be the hottest in Australia, depending on how the temperature is measured: the place with the highest recorded temperature, the most frequent occurrences of high temperatures, or the hottest yearly average.
| RECORD TEMPERATURES |
PLACE |
TEMPERATURE
(º C) |
DATE |
| Highest Recorded Temperature |
Cloncurry
Queensland |
53 º C |
1889 |
| Highest Average Annual Temperature |
Wyndham,
North Western Australia |
- |
- |
| Highest Average Monthly Temperature |
Marble Bar,
North Western Australia |
160 days/year over 37.5 º C |
- |
| Longest Hot Spells |
- |
| Most Frequent Occurrences over 50 º C
| Western NSW
| - |
- |
| Lowest Recorded Temperature |
Charlotte Pass
New South Wales
| -23 º C |
1994 |
| Greatest Variance in Temperature |
White Cliffs
Western New South Wales |
range of 57 º C |
- |
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Rainfall
Rainfall in Australia is highly variable. Not only does the continent have low average annual rainfall but it is also more variable. Rainfall intensity is high in the tropics. The risk of soil erosion increases with rainfall intensity, particularly if vegetation is removed by cultivation or cover is depleted by forest clearing.
The rainfall pattern is concentric around the extensive arid core of the continent. Around the arid centre is the broken margin of more humid lands. In the west, aridity extends to the coast.
| STATISTIC |
PLACE |
RAINFALL |
DATE |
| Average Annual Rainfall |
Australia |
165mm |
- |
| Driest Area |
Lake Eyre |
125 mm/yr |
- |
| Wettest Area |
North East Queensland
South West Tasmania |
- |
- |
| Highest Annual Rainfall |
Bellenden Ker
North East Coast, Queensland |
11251 mm/yr |
1979 |
| Highest Rainfall in 24 hours |
Crohamhurst
South East Queensland |
907 mm |
3 Feb. 1893 |
| Highest Median Annual Rainfall |
Bellenden Ker
North East Coast, Queensland |
4048 mm/yr |
- |
| Most Frequent Rainfall |
Lake Margaret
Western Tasmania |
250 days/yr
average |
- |
For more detailed information on Australia's climate, see the Climate Volume of the Atlas of Australian Resources (Geoscience Australia).
