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Burrinjuck Dam: weather history since 1909

Burrinjuck Dam is a weather station located 390 m above sea level. Its records go back to 1909: 35 years of temperature are available up to 2019, along with rainfall and a comparison with two reference normals. Closed series: the records of this station end in 2019. Over 1991–2020 the annual mean temperature there is 15.8 °C, clearly higher than over 1961–1990 (14.9 °C): a difference of 0.9 °C. The warmest year of the series is 2005 (17.0 °C) and the coldest 1966 (13.8 °C). The last complete year, 2011, ranks 13 out of 35, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2019, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.42 °C per decade. The station ranks 4 out of 227 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.

Annual mean temperature since 1909

131415161718
190919201930194019501960197019801990200020102019
Mean temperature of the year   10-year running mean   1961–1990 normal (14.9 °C)   1991–2020 normal (15.8 °C)

The first ten years of the series (1965–1977) average 14.4 °C; the last ten (1995–2011) average 15.9 °C, a difference of +1.4 °C. Of the ten warmest years in the series, 4 fall after 1999. The warmest is 2005 (17.0 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 15.5 °C (1998) and bottoms out at 14.4 °C (1974).

Annual rainfall since 1909

0500100015002000
190919201930194019501960197019801990200020102019
Rainfall of the year   Series average (926 mm)

On average 926 mm of rain falls per year over the 109 documented years. The wettest year, 1956, received 1685 mm; the driest, 2006, only 358 mm, which is 4.7 times less. The 1991–2020 normal (901 mm per year) is 70 mm (7.2 %) below the 1961–1990 one (971 mm). Over 1991–2020, June is on average the wettest month (98 mm) and April the driest (44 mm). Between 1999 and 2019, 8 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.

Monthly temperature and rainfall normals, 1961–1990 and 1991–2020
MonthTemp. 1961–1990Temp. 1991–2020DifferenceRain 1961–1990Rain 1991–2020Difference
January22.3 °C23.9 °C+1.6 °C70 mm64 mm−6 mm
February22.5 °C23.2 °C+0.7 °C55 mm61 mm+6 mm
March19.9 °C20.4 °C+0.5 °C57 mm67 mm+10 mm
April15.4 °C16.2 °C+0.8 °C81 mm44 mm−37 mm
May11.4 °C12.1 °C+0.7 °C95 mm61 mm−34 mm
June8.3 °C9.2 °C+0.9 °C75 mm98 mm+23 mm
July7.1 °C7.9 °C+0.8 °C109 mm96 mm−13 mm
August8.6 °C9.0 °C+0.4 °C107 mm90 mm−17 mm
September10.9 °C12.0 °C+1.1 °C92 mm87 mm−5 mm
October14.2 °C15.5 °C+1.3 °C91 mm71 mm−20 mm
November17.3 °C18.4 °C+1.1 °C72 mm85 mm+13 mm
December20.4 °C21.5 °C+1.1 °C67 mm77 mm+10 mm

The largest temperature change is in January (+1.6 °C) and the smallest in August (+0.4 °C); over the year the mean difference is +0.9 °C, and 12 months out of twelve are warmer than before. For rainfall, the largest difference is in June (+23 mm) and the smallest in April (−37 mm).

Records at Burrinjuck Dam

  • Warmest year: 17.0 °C, in 2005
  • Coldest year: 13.8 °C, in 1966
  • Driest year: 358 mm, in 2006
  • Wettest year: 1685 mm, in 1956
  • Warmest month: 26.6 °C, in January 2006
  • Coldest month: 5.7 °C, in July 1966
  • Wettest month: 384 mm, in March 1950
  • Hottest day: 45.6 °C, on 31 January 2020
  • Coldest day: −7.0 °C, on 20 July 1997
  • Heaviest rain in one day: 162.4 mm, on 11 January 1974

3.2 °C separate the warmest year of the series from the coldest. Between the hottest and the coldest day on record, the range reaches 52.6 °C.

Temperature trend over 1961–2019

The regression line of annual mean temperature changes by +0.42 °C per decade between 1961 and 2019, about +2.4 °C over the whole period. That is faster than the median of the 227 stations (+0.19 °C per decade), by 0.23 °C per decade: the station ranks 4 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 Burrinjuck Dam 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 Burrinjuck Dam?

Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at Burrinjuck Dam is 15.8 °C. It was 14.9 °C over 1961–1990, a difference of +0.9 °C.

What is the warmest year ever measured at Burrinjuck Dam?

Since records began in 1909, the warmest year at Burrinjuck Dam is 2005, at 17.0 °C on average. The coldest is 1966 (13.8 °C).

Is the climate at Burrinjuck Dam getting warmer?

Yes: at Burrinjuck Dam, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.42 °C per decade between 1961 and 2019, +2.4 °C in total. 4 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.

Neighbouring stations

See all stations in the weather history