Broken Hill Airport AWS is a weather station located 281 m above sea level, 4 km from Broken Hill. Its records go back to 1952: 26 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 18.3 °C; the 1961–1990 period is not documented well enough to compare. The warmest year of the series is 2019 (19.5 °C) and the coldest 1960 (17.1 °C). The last complete year, 2025, ranks 3 out of 26, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2025, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.19 °C per decade. The station ranks 117 out of 227 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1952
The first ten years of the series (1960–2009) average 18.2 °C; the last ten (2016–2025) average 18.6 °C, a difference of +0.4 °C. All of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999; the warmest is 2019 (19.5 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 18.6 °C (2020) and bottoms out at 18.1 °C (2012).
Annual rainfall since 1952
On average 253 mm of rain falls per year over the 59 documented years. The wettest year, 1974, received 714 mm; the driest, 2019, only 68 mm, which is 10.5 times less. The 1991–2020 normal (233 mm per year) is 36 mm (13.4 %) below the 1961–1990 one (269 mm). Over 1991–2020, January is on average the wettest month (27 mm) and April the driest (15 mm). Between 2005 and 2025, 7 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 | – | 26.6 °C | – | 32 mm | 27 mm | −5 mm |
| February | – | 26.0 °C | – | 14 mm | 26 mm | +12 mm |
| March | – | 22.1 °C | – | 23 mm | 19 mm | −4 mm |
| April | – | 18.1 °C | – | 26 mm | 15 mm | −11 mm |
| May | – | 13.7 °C | – | 25 mm | 15 mm | −10 mm |
| June | – | 10.9 °C | – | 15 mm | 17 mm | +2 mm |
| July | – | 10.3 °C | – | 16 mm | 18 mm | +2 mm |
| August | – | 11.7 °C | – | 22 mm | 16 mm | −6 mm |
| September | – | 15.2 °C | – | 25 mm | 19 mm | −6 mm |
| October | – | 18.7 °C | – | 30 mm | 18 mm | −12 mm |
| November | – | 22.2 °C | – | 16 mm | 24 mm | +8 mm |
| December | – | 24.7 °C | – | 25 mm | 19 mm | −6 mm |
For rainfall, the largest difference is in February (+12 mm) and the smallest in October (−12 mm).
Records at Broken Hill Airport AWS
- Warmest year: 19.5 °C, in 2019
- Coldest year: 17.1 °C, in 1960
- Driest year: 68 mm, in 2019
- Wettest year: 714 mm, in 1974
- Warmest month: 30.6 °C, in January 2019
- Coldest month: 8.3 °C, in July 1997
- Wettest month: 234 mm, in March 1989
- Hottest day: 47.8 °C, on 27 January 2026
- Coldest day: −4.6 °C, on 22 July 1992
- Heaviest rain in one day: 129.0 mm, on 14 March 1989
2.4 °C separate the warmest year of the series from the coldest. Between the hottest and the coldest day on record, the range reaches 52.4 °C.
Temperature trend over 1961–2025
The regression line of annual mean temperature changes by +0.19 °C per decade between 1961 and 2025, about +1.2 °C over the whole period. That is slower than the median of the 227 stations (+0.19 °C per decade), by 0.00 °C per decade: the station ranks 117 out of 227.
The last 24 months against the 1991–2020 normal
Over the last 24 months (October 2024 to September 2026), 18 months out of 24 were warmer than the 1991–2020 normal for the same month; the mean departure is +0.9 °C. The highest departure was in March 2025 (+3.5 °C); the lowest, in June 2025 (−1.0 °C). The last twelve months add up to 296 mm of rain, which is 127 % of the 1991–2020 annual normal (233 mm).
| Month | Temperature | Departure from normal | Rain | Normal rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2024 | 20.0 °C | +1.3 °C | 24 mm | 18 mm |
| November 2024 | 23.6 °C | +1.4 °C | 23 mm | 24 mm |
| December 2024 | 26.0 °C | +1.3 °C | 15 mm | 19 mm |
| January 2025 | 27.5 °C | +0.9 °C | 0 mm | 27 mm |
| February 2025 | 27.6 °C | +1.6 °C | 20 mm | 26 mm |
| March 2025 | 25.6 °C | +3.5 °C | 17 mm | 19 mm |
| April 2025 | 19.5 °C | +1.4 °C | 38 mm | 15 mm |
| May 2025 | 13.9 °C | +0.2 °C | 0 mm | 15 mm |
| June 2025 | 9.9 °C | −1.0 °C | 15 mm | 17 mm |
| July 2025 | 10.2 °C | −0.1 °C | 41 mm | 18 mm |
| August 2025 | 11.6 °C | −0.1 °C | 9 mm | 16 mm |
| September 2025 | 16.1 °C | +0.9 °C | 14 mm | 19 mm |
| October 2025 | 20.3 °C | +1.6 °C | 8 mm | 18 mm |
| November 2025 | 21.2 °C | −1.0 °C | 2 mm | 24 mm |
| December 2025 | 25.2 °C | +0.5 °C | 18 mm | 19 mm |
| January 2026 | 29.8 °C | +3.2 °C | 0 mm | 27 mm |
| February 2026 | 26.3 °C | +0.3 °C | 36 mm | 26 mm |
| March 2026 | 21.6 °C | −0.5 °C | 100 mm | 19 mm |
| April 2026 | 19.2 °C | +1.1 °C | 1 mm | 15 mm |
| May 2026 | 14.9 °C | +1.2 °C | 7 mm | 15 mm |
| June 2026 | 13.0 °C | +2.1 °C | 39 mm | 17 mm |
| July 2026 | 10.3 °C | 0.0 °C | 23 mm | 18 mm |
| August 2026 | 11.9 °C | +0.2 °C | 62 mm | 16 mm |
| September 2026 | 16.3 °C | +1.1 °C | 0 mm | 19 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 Broken Hill Airport AWS 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 Broken Hill Airport AWS?
Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at Broken Hill Airport AWS is 18.3 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at Broken Hill Airport AWS?
Since records began in 1952, the warmest year at Broken Hill Airport AWS is 2019, at 19.5 °C on average. The coldest is 1960 (17.1 °C).
Is the climate at Broken Hill Airport AWS getting warmer?
Yes: at Broken Hill Airport AWS, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.19 °C per decade between 1961 and 2025, +1.2 °C in total. 10 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.
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