Cape Moreton is a weather station located 100 m above sea level. Its records go back to 1888: 83 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 21.5 °C, clearly higher than over 1961–1990 (20.8 °C): a difference of 0.7 °C. The warmest year of the series is 2017 (22.2 °C) and the coldest 1934 (19.9 °C). The last complete year, 2025, ranks 18 out of 83, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2025, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.21 °C per decade. The station ranks 97 out of 227 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1888
The first ten years of the series (1910–1923) average 20.6 °C; the last ten (2015–2025) average 21.7 °C, a difference of +1.1 °C. Of the ten warmest years in the series, 9 fall after 1999. The warmest is 2017 (22.2 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 21.8 °C (2024) and bottoms out at 20.3 °C (1939).
Annual rainfall since 1888
On average 1495 mm of rain falls per year over the 125 documented years. The wettest year, 1890, received 2503 mm; the driest, 2000, only 681 mm, which is 3.7 times less. The 1991–2020 normal (1109 mm per year) is 471 mm (29.8 %) below the 1961–1990 one (1580 mm). Over 1991–2020, June is on average the wettest month (133 mm) and September the driest (39 mm). Between 1993 and 2025, 5 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 | 24.6 °C | 25.4 °C | +0.8 °C | 170 mm | 86 mm | −84 mm |
| February | 24.6 °C | 25.3 °C | +0.7 °C | 148 mm | 123 mm | −25 mm |
| March | 23.7 °C | 24.4 °C | +0.7 °C | 174 mm | 113 mm | −61 mm |
| April | 21.8 °C | 22.3 °C | +0.5 °C | 154 mm | 94 mm | −60 mm |
| May | 19.3 °C | 19.8 °C | +0.5 °C | 172 mm | 130 mm | −42 mm |
| June | 16.7 °C | 17.7 °C | +1.0 °C | 151 mm | 133 mm | −18 mm |
| July | 16.0 °C | 16.9 °C | +0.9 °C | 125 mm | 82 mm | −43 mm |
| August | 16.8 °C | 17.7 °C | +0.9 °C | 85 mm | 50 mm | −35 mm |
| September | 18.7 °C | 19.8 °C | +1.1 °C | 54 mm | 39 mm | −15 mm |
| October | 20.7 °C | 21.3 °C | +0.6 °C | 99 mm | 66 mm | −33 mm |
| November | 22.3 °C | 23.0 °C | +0.7 °C | 114 mm | 73 mm | −41 mm |
| December | 23.8 °C | 24.3 °C | +0.5 °C | 134 mm | 120 mm | −14 mm |
The largest temperature change is in September (+1.1 °C) and the smallest in April (+0.5 °C); over the year the mean difference is +0.7 °C, and 12 months out of twelve are warmer than before. For rainfall, the largest difference is in December (−14 mm) and the smallest in January (−84 mm).
Records at Cape Moreton
- Warmest year: 22.2 °C, in 2017
- Coldest year: 19.9 °C, in 1934
- Driest year: 681 mm, in 2000
- Wettest year: 2503 mm, in 1890
- Warmest month: 26.6 °C, in January 2017
- Coldest month: 14.6 °C, in June 1946
- Wettest month: 719 mm, in January 1974
- Hottest day: 36.3 °C, on 23 December 1940
- Coldest day: 5.1 °C, on 21 June 1946
- Heaviest rain in one day: 339.9 mm, on 26 January 1974
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 31.2 °C.
Temperature trend over 1961–2025
The regression line of annual mean temperature changes by +0.21 °C per decade between 1961 and 2025, about +1.3 °C over the whole period. That is faster than the median of the 227 stations (+0.19 °C per decade), by 0.02 °C per decade: the station ranks 97 out of 227.
The last 24 months against the 1991–2020 normal
Over the last 24 months (October 2024 to September 2026), 11 months out of 14 were warmer than the 1991–2020 normal for the same month; the mean departure is +0.3 °C. The highest departure was in October 2025 (+1.5 °C); the lowest, in June 2025 (−0.5 °C). The last twelve months add up to 1208 mm of rain, which is 109 % of the 1991–2020 annual normal (1109 mm).
| Month | Temperature | Departure from normal | Rain | Normal rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2024 | 21.7 °C | +0.4 °C | 91 mm | 66 mm |
| November 2024 | 23.6 °C | +0.6 °C | 210 mm | 73 mm |
| December 2024 | 25.1 °C | +0.8 °C | 177 mm | 120 mm |
| January 2025 | 25.4 °C | 0.0 °C | 205 mm | 86 mm |
| February 2025 | – | – | 41 mm | 123 mm |
| March 2025 | 24.5 °C | +0.1 °C | 296 mm | 113 mm |
| April 2025 | 22.5 °C | +0.2 °C | 110 mm | 94 mm |
| May 2025 | 20.4 °C | +0.6 °C | 118 mm | 130 mm |
| June 2025 | 17.2 °C | −0.5 °C | 115 mm | 133 mm |
| July 2025 | 17.1 °C | +0.2 °C | 83 mm | 82 mm |
| August 2025 | 17.4 °C | −0.3 °C | 175 mm | 50 mm |
| September 2025 | 20.2 °C | +0.4 °C | 8 mm | 39 mm |
| October 2025 | 22.8 °C | +1.5 °C | 73 mm | 66 mm |
| November 2025 | 23.4 °C | +0.4 °C | 153 mm | 73 mm |
| December 2025 | 24.7 °C | +0.4 °C | 64 mm | 120 mm |
| January 2026 | – | – | 21 mm | 86 mm |
| February 2026 | – | – | 30 mm | 123 mm |
| March 2026 | – | – | 158 mm | 113 mm |
| April 2026 | – | – | 93 mm | 94 mm |
| May 2026 | – | – | 248 mm | 130 mm |
| June 2026 | – | – | 111 mm | 133 mm |
| July 2026 | – | – | 129 mm | 82 mm |
| August 2026 | – | – | 87 mm | 50 mm |
| September 2026 | – | – | 41 mm | 39 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 Cape Moreton 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 Cape Moreton?
Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at Cape Moreton is 21.5 °C. It was 20.8 °C over 1961–1990, a difference of +0.7 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at Cape Moreton?
Since records began in 1888, the warmest year at Cape Moreton is 2017, at 22.2 °C on average. The coldest is 1934 (19.9 °C).
Is the climate at Cape Moreton getting warmer?
Yes: at Cape Moreton, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.21 °C per decade between 1961 and 2025, +1.3 °C in total. 9 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.
Neighbouring stations