Hillston Airport is a weather station located 122 m above sea level, 2 km from Hillston. Its records go back to 1881: 53 years of temperature are available up to 2021, along with rainfall and a comparison with two reference normals. Closed series: the records of this station end in 2021. Over 1991–2020 the annual mean temperature there is 18.0 °C, noticeably higher than over 1961–1990 (17.6 °C): a difference of 0.4 °C. The warmest year of the series is 2018 (19.8 °C) and the coldest 1957 (16.3 °C). The last complete year, 2019, ranks 3 out of 53, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2021, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.14 °C per decade. The station ranks 172 out of 227 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1881
The first ten years of the series (1957–1966) average 17.3 °C; the last ten (2006–2019) average 18.3 °C, a difference of +1.0 °C. Of the ten warmest years in the series, 5 fall after 1999. The warmest is 2018 (19.8 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 18.1 °C (2010) and bottoms out at 17.2 °C (1964).
Annual rainfall since 1881
On average 372 mm of rain falls per year over the 131 documented years. The wettest year, 2010, received 853 mm; the driest, 1940, only 101 mm, which is 8.4 times less. The 1991–2020 normal (392 mm per year) is 2 mm (0.5 %) above the 1961–1990 one (390 mm). Over 1991–2020, December is on average the wettest month (39 mm) and April the driest (25 mm). Between 2000 and 2021, 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 | 25.5 °C | 26.8 °C | +1.3 °C | 37 mm | 31 mm | −6 mm |
| February | 25.6 °C | 25.8 °C | +0.2 °C | 26 mm | 33 mm | +7 mm |
| March | 22.4 °C | 22.4 °C | 0.0 °C | 41 mm | 34 mm | −7 mm |
| April | 17.7 °C | 17.9 °C | +0.2 °C | 35 mm | 25 mm | −10 mm |
| May | 13.4 °C | 13.5 °C | +0.1 °C | 37 mm | 28 mm | −9 mm |
| June | 10.1 °C | 10.6 °C | +0.5 °C | 28 mm | 37 mm | +9 mm |
| July | 9.4 °C | 9.7 °C | +0.3 °C | 30 mm | 32 mm | +2 mm |
| August | 11.1 °C | 11.0 °C | −0.1 °C | 33 mm | 27 mm | −6 mm |
| September | 13.8 °C | 14.3 °C | +0.5 °C | 30 mm | 34 mm | +4 mm |
| October | 17.6 °C | 18.2 °C | +0.6 °C | 39 mm | 38 mm | −1 mm |
| November | 20.9 °C | 21.5 °C | +0.6 °C | 23 mm | 34 mm | +11 mm |
| December | 23.8 °C | 24.3 °C | +0.5 °C | 31 mm | 39 mm | +8 mm |
The largest temperature change is in January (+1.3 °C) and the smallest in August (−0.1 °C); over the year the mean difference is +0.4 °C, and 10 months out of twelve are warmer than before. For rainfall, the largest difference is in November (+11 mm) and the smallest in April (−10 mm).
Records at Hillston Airport
- Warmest year: 19.8 °C, in 2018
- Coldest year: 16.3 °C, in 1957
- Driest year: 101 mm, in 1940
- Wettest year: 853 mm, in 2010
- Warmest month: 31.8 °C, in January 2019
- Coldest month: 7.7 °C, in July 1968
- Wettest month: 242 mm, in March 2012
- Hottest day: 47.2 °C, on 11 February 2017
- Coldest day: −6.0 °C, on 15 July 2022
- Heaviest rain in one day: 123.0 mm, on 4 March 2012
3.5 °C separate the warmest year of the series from the coldest. Between the hottest and the coldest day on record, the range reaches 53.2 °C.
Temperature trend over 1961–2021
The regression line of annual mean temperature changes by +0.14 °C per decade between 1961 and 2021, about +0.8 °C over the whole period. That is slower than the median of the 227 stations (+0.19 °C per decade), by 0.05 °C per decade: the station ranks 172 out of 227.
The last 24 months against the 1991–2020 normal
Over the last 18 months (June 2023 to May 2025), 3 months out of 6 were warmer than the 1991–2020 normal for the same month; the mean departure is +0.5 °C. The highest departure was in March 2025 (+2.6 °C); the lowest, in October 2023 (−0.9 °C). The last twelve months add up to 551 mm of rain, which is 141 % of the 1991–2020 annual normal (392 mm).
| Month | Temperature | Departure from normal | Rain | Normal rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2023 | – | – | 56 mm | 37 mm |
| July 2023 | 9.6 °C | −0.1 °C | – | 32 mm |
| August 2023 | 11.6 °C | +0.6 °C | 19 mm | 27 mm |
| October 2023 | 17.3 °C | −0.9 °C | 27 mm | 38 mm |
| November 2023 | – | – | 75 mm | 34 mm |
| December 2023 | 25.2 °C | +0.9 °C | 44 mm | 39 mm |
| January 2024 | – | – | 82 mm | 31 mm |
| March 2024 | – | – | 8 mm | 34 mm |
| April 2024 | – | – | 58 mm | 25 mm |
| May 2024 | 13.1 °C | −0.4 °C | 167 mm | 28 mm |
| September 2024 | – | – | 20 mm | 34 mm |
| October 2024 | – | – | 17 mm | 38 mm |
| November 2024 | – | – | 68 mm | 34 mm |
| December 2024 | – | – | 35 mm | 39 mm |
| January 2025 | – | – | 5 mm | 31 mm |
| February 2025 | – | – | 18 mm | 33 mm |
| March 2025 | 25.0 °C | +2.6 °C | 34 mm | 34 mm |
| May 2025 | – | – | 39 mm | 28 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 Hillston Airport 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 Hillston Airport?
Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at Hillston Airport is 18.0 °C. It was 17.6 °C over 1961–1990, a difference of +0.4 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at Hillston Airport?
Since records began in 1881, the warmest year at Hillston Airport is 2018, at 19.8 °C on average. The coldest is 1957 (16.3 °C).
Is the climate at Hillston Airport getting warmer?
Yes: at Hillston Airport, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.14 °C per decade between 1961 and 2021, +0.8 °C in total. 5 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.
Towns near this station
Neighbouring stations