Alice Springs is a weather station located 546 m above sea level, 9 km from Desert Springs. Its records go back to 1910: 112 years of temperature are available up to 2025, along with rainfall and a comparison with two reference normals. Over 1991–2020 the annual mean temperature there is 21.1 °C, clearly higher than over 1961–1990 (20.1 °C): a difference of 1.0 °C. The warmest year of the series is 2024 (22.4 °C) and the coldest 1976 (18.3 °C). The last complete year, 2025, ranks 5 out of 112, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2025, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.28 °C per decade. The station ranks 32 out of 227 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1910
The first ten years of the series (1910–1919) average 19.6 °C; the last ten (2016–2025) average 21.6 °C, a difference of +2.1 °C. Of the ten warmest years in the series, 8 fall after 1999. The warmest is 2024 (22.4 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 21.6 °C (2025) and bottoms out at 19.4 °C (1925).
Annual rainfall since 1910
On average 279 mm of rain falls per year over the 83 documented years. The wettest year, 1974, received 782 mm; the driest, 2019, only 70 mm, which is 11.2 times less. The 1991–2020 normal (267 mm per year) is 34 mm (11.3 %) below the 1961–1990 one (301 mm). Over 1991–2020, January is on average the wettest month (49 mm) and August the driest (3 mm). Between 2005 and 2025, 6 years out of 20 exceeded the series average.
Monthly normals: 1961–1990 against 1991–2020
The table compares, month by month, the mean temperature and the rainfall total of two thirty-year reference periods. The difference column shows what the recent period changes compared with the earlier one.
| Month | Temp. 1961–1990 | Temp. 1991–2020 | Difference | Rain 1961–1990 | Rain 1991–2020 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27.5 °C | 29.2 °C | +1.7 °C | 42 mm | 49 mm | +7 mm |
| February | 27.3 °C | 28.1 °C | +0.8 °C | 37 mm | 41 mm | +4 mm |
| March | 24.6 °C | 25.4 °C | +0.8 °C | 52 mm | 19 mm | −33 mm |
| April | 20.0 °C | 20.8 °C | +0.8 °C | 17 mm | 19 mm | +2 mm |
| May | 15.6 °C | 15.7 °C | +0.1 °C | 18 mm | 18 mm | 0 mm |
| June | 12.3 °C | 12.3 °C | 0.0 °C | 14 mm | 10 mm | −4 mm |
| July | 11.3 °C | 12.0 °C | +0.7 °C | 16 mm | 12 mm | −4 mm |
| August | 13.2 °C | 14.0 °C | +0.8 °C | 12 mm | 3 mm | −9 mm |
| September | 17.2 °C | 19.3 °C | +2.1 °C | 11 mm | 6 mm | −5 mm |
| October | 21.6 °C | 22.8 °C | +1.2 °C | 19 mm | 18 mm | −1 mm |
| November | 24.2 °C | 25.7 °C | +1.5 °C | 27 mm | 33 mm | +6 mm |
| December | 26.6 °C | 27.7 °C | +1.1 °C | 36 mm | 39 mm | +3 mm |
The largest temperature change is in September (+2.1 °C) and the smallest in June (0.0 °C); over the year the mean difference is +1.0 °C, and 11 months out of twelve are warmer than before. For rainfall, the largest difference is in January (+7 mm) and the smallest in March (−33 mm).
Records at Alice Springs
- Warmest year: 22.4 °C, in 2024
- Coldest year: 18.3 °C, in 1976
- Driest year: 70 mm, in 2019
- Wettest year: 782 mm, in 1974
- Warmest month: 33.0 °C, in January 2019
- Coldest month: 8.0 °C, in June 1913
- Wettest month: 357 mm, in March 1983
- Hottest day: 45.7 °C, on 25 December 2019
- Coldest day: −9.7 °C, on 21 June 1925
- Heaviest rain in one day: 204.8 mm, on 31 March 1988
4.1 °C separate the warmest year of the series from the coldest. Between the hottest and the coldest day on record, the range reaches 55.4 °C.
Temperature trend over 1961–2025
The regression line of annual mean temperature changes by +0.28 °C per decade between 1961 and 2025, about +1.8 °C over the whole period. That is faster than the median of the 227 stations (+0.19 °C per decade), by 0.09 °C per decade: the station ranks 32 out of 227.
The last 24 months against the 1991–2020 normal
Over the last 24 months (October 2024 to September 2026), 10 months out of 15 were warmer than the 1991–2020 normal for the same month; the mean departure is +1.1 °C. The highest departure was in October 2025 (+3.2 °C); the lowest, in September 2025 (−1.1 °C). The last twelve months add up to 537 mm of rain, which is 201 % of the 1991–2020 annual normal (267 mm).
| Month | Temperature | Departure from normal | Rain | Normal rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2024 | 25.7 °C | +2.9 °C | 0 mm | 18 mm |
| November 2024 | 27.9 °C | +2.2 °C | 10 mm | 33 mm |
| December 2024 | 30.0 °C | +2.3 °C | 18 mm | 39 mm |
| January 2025 | 31.5 °C | +2.3 °C | 1 mm | 49 mm |
| February 2025 | 30.5 °C | +2.4 °C | 2 mm | 41 mm |
| March 2025 | 28.2 °C | +2.8 °C | 20 mm | 19 mm |
| April 2025 | 20.0 °C | −0.8 °C | 59 mm | 19 mm |
| May 2025 | 15.2 °C | −0.5 °C | 43 mm | 18 mm |
| June 2025 | 12.2 °C | −0.1 °C | 0 mm | 10 mm |
| July 2025 | 12.2 °C | +0.2 °C | 8 mm | 12 mm |
| August 2025 | 13.5 °C | −0.5 °C | 0 mm | 3 mm |
| September 2025 | 18.2 °C | −1.1 °C | 26 mm | 6 mm |
| October 2025 | 26.0 °C | +3.2 °C | 26 mm | 18 mm |
| November 2025 | 26.1 °C | +0.4 °C | 76 mm | 33 mm |
| December 2025 | 29.2 °C | +1.5 °C | 1 mm | 39 mm |
| January 2026 | – | – | 0 mm | 49 mm |
| February 2026 | – | – | 188 mm | 41 mm |
| March 2026 | – | – | 141 mm | 19 mm |
| April 2026 | – | – | 0 mm | 19 mm |
| May 2026 | – | – | 26 mm | 18 mm |
| June 2026 | – | – | 9 mm | 10 mm |
| July 2026 | – | – | 28 mm | 12 mm |
| August 2026 | – | – | 41 mm | 3 mm |
| September 2026 | – | – | 1 mm | 6 mm |
Data source and licence
Data source: Bureau of Meteorology (ACORN-SAT) and NOAA NCEI (GHCN-Daily) (dataset “ACORN-SAT v2 daily (homogenised) + GHCN-Daily”), licence CC BY 4.0; Public domain (NOAA NCEI). Last updated: 29 October 2026.
The data for Alice Springs are shown as the source publishes them; this site does not correct them. A year is kept only if at least eleven months of measurements are available, and a normal is computed only with at least twenty years of data out of its thirty. Temperatures are rounded to 0.1 °C and rainfall to the millimetre. The station is one of 227 stations in Australia: the overview page lets you compare them.
Frequently asked questions
What is the annual mean temperature at Alice Springs?
Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at Alice Springs is 21.1 °C. It was 20.1 °C over 1961–1990, a difference of +1.0 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at Alice Springs?
Since records began in 1910, the warmest year at Alice Springs is 2024, at 22.4 °C on average. The coldest is 1976 (18.3 °C).
Is the climate at Alice Springs getting warmer?
Yes: at Alice Springs, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.28 °C per decade between 1961 and 2025, +1.8 °C in total. 8 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.
Towns near this station
Neighbouring stations