Australian Climates

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

This may seem backward to us... because well, it is! Australian Christmas happens in the middle of summer. Because Australia is such a big country, its weather varies a great deal. Scorching heat, snow, humidity, rain... all are common variations in weather one might typically see Down Under.

The north: tropical regions with high temperatures and high humidity, and wet and dry seasons. The wet season lasts about six months in summer and spring, between December and March. The dry season lasts about six months in autumn and winter, usually between May and October.

The center: dry, desert regions with high daytime temperatures and low amounts of rain. Temperatures range from around 104 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer to between 61 and 75 degrees in the winter.

The south: temperate regions with moderate rainfall and temperatures ranging from hot to cold. The summer frequently has periods of heat wave and drought. The winters, while usually cold, wet and windy, are quite mild.

Droughts, bushfires and cyclones are typical to Australia. Since Australia is the driest inhabited continent with unpredictable rainfall patterns, it experiences a lot of droughts. Bushfires are large, out of control fires that happen in the bushland. Low humidity, high winds, high temperatures and low rainfall add to the chance of a bushfire. Cyclones happen about six times in Australia a year. They usually happen between November and April. The worst cyclone to ever hit Australia was Cyclone Mahina. In 1899, it killed over 400 people when it destroyed an entire pearl-fishing fleet at Bathurst Bay in Queensland.