Barcaldine is a weather station located 267 m above sea level, 1 km from Barcaldine. Its records go back to 1888: 46 years of temperature are available up to 2022, along with rainfall and a comparison with two reference normals. Closed series: the records of this station end in 2022. Over 1991–2020 the annual mean temperature there is 24.0 °C, noticeably higher than over 1961–1990 (23.4 °C): a difference of 0.6 °C. The warmest year of the series is 1988 (24.9 °C) and the coldest 1971 (22.6 °C). The last complete year, 2022, ranks 28 out of 46, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2022, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.16 °C per decade. The station ranks 155 out of 227 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1888
The first ten years of the series (1962–1973) average 23.4 °C; the last ten (2006–2022) average 23.9 °C, a difference of +0.5 °C. Of the ten warmest years in the series, 6 fall after 1999. The warmest is 1988 (24.9 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 24.1 °C (1996) and bottoms out at 23.2 °C (1979).
Annual rainfall since 1888
On average 488 mm of rain falls per year over the 130 documented years. The wettest year, 2010, received 1304 mm; the driest, 1946, only 146 mm, which is 8.9 times less. The 1991–2020 normal (478 mm per year) is 5 mm (1.1 %) above the 1961–1990 one (473 mm). Over 1991–2020, February is on average the wettest month (85 mm) and July the driest (13 mm). Between 2000 and 2020, 9 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 | 29.4 °C | 29.9 °C | +0.5 °C | 88 mm | 83 mm | −5 mm |
| February | 29.1 °C | 29.2 °C | +0.1 °C | 66 mm | 85 mm | +19 mm |
| March | 27.5 °C | 28.1 °C | +0.6 °C | 54 mm | 42 mm | −12 mm |
| April | 23.9 °C | 24.5 °C | +0.6 °C | 32 mm | 21 mm | −11 mm |
| May | 19.5 °C | 20.1 °C | +0.6 °C | 37 mm | 17 mm | −20 mm |
| June | 16.2 °C | 16.9 °C | +0.7 °C | 15 mm | 20 mm | +5 mm |
| July | 15.5 °C | 16.3 °C | +0.8 °C | 24 mm | 13 mm | −11 mm |
| August | 17.6 °C | 18.2 °C | +0.6 °C | 22 mm | 14 mm | −8 mm |
| September | 21.2 °C | 22.1 °C | +0.9 °C | 12 mm | 24 mm | +12 mm |
| October | 25.0 °C | 25.8 °C | +0.8 °C | 25 mm | 26 mm | +1 mm |
| November | 27.5 °C | 27.9 °C | +0.4 °C | 34 mm | 60 mm | +26 mm |
| December | 28.8 °C | 29.3 °C | +0.5 °C | 64 mm | 73 mm | +9 mm |
The largest temperature change is in September (+0.9 °C) and the smallest in February (+0.1 °C); over the year the mean difference is +0.6 °C, and 12 months out of twelve are warmer than before. For rainfall, the largest difference is in November (+26 mm) and the smallest in May (−20 mm).
Records at Barcaldine
- Warmest year: 24.9 °C, in 1988
- Coldest year: 22.6 °C, in 1971
- Driest year: 146 mm, in 1946
- Wettest year: 1304 mm, in 2010
- Warmest month: 32.2 °C, in January 1994
- Coldest month: 13.7 °C, in June 2007
- Wettest month: 481 mm, in January 1974
- Hottest day: 44.9 °C, on 3 January 2014
- Coldest day: −1.1 °C, on 10 July 1974
- Heaviest rain in one day: 176.5 mm, on 14 March 1936
2.3 °C separate the warmest year of the series from the coldest. Between the hottest and the coldest day on record, the range reaches 46.0 °C.
Temperature trend over 1961–2022
The regression line of annual mean temperature changes by +0.16 °C per decade between 1961 and 2022, about +1.0 °C over the whole period. That is slower than the median of the 227 stations (+0.19 °C per decade), by 0.03 °C per decade: the station ranks 155 out of 227.
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 Barcaldine 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 Barcaldine?
Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at Barcaldine is 24.0 °C. It was 23.4 °C over 1961–1990, a difference of +0.6 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at Barcaldine?
Since records began in 1888, the warmest year at Barcaldine is 1988, at 24.9 °C on average. The coldest is 1971 (22.6 °C).
Is the climate at Barcaldine getting warmer?
Yes: at Barcaldine, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.16 °C per decade between 1961 and 2022, +1.0 °C in total. 6 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.
Towns near this station
Neighbouring stations