Kalumburu is a weather station located 23 m above sea level. Its records go back to 1942: 71 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 27.9 °C, noticeably higher than over 1961–1990 (27.4 °C): a difference of 0.5 °C. The warmest year of the series is 2016 (29.2 °C) and the coldest 1949 (25.6 °C). The last complete year, 2025, ranks 22 out of 71, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2025, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.16 °C per decade. The station ranks 159 out of 227 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1942
The first ten years of the series (1942–1953) average 26.7 °C; the last ten (2013–2025) average 28.2 °C, a difference of +1.5 °C. Of the ten warmest years in the series, 7 fall after 1999. The warmest is 2016 (29.2 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 28.1 °C (2021) and bottoms out at 26.4 °C (1952).
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 | 29.6 °C | 29.9 °C | +0.3 °C | – | 350 mm | – |
| February | 29.2 °C | 29.4 °C | +0.2 °C | – | 294 mm | – |
| March | 28.8 °C | 29.1 °C | +0.3 °C | – | 223 mm | – |
| April | 28.1 °C | 28.3 °C | +0.2 °C | – | 35 mm | – |
| May | 24.8 °C | 25.4 °C | +0.6 °C | – | 13 mm | – |
| June | 23.3 °C | 23.8 °C | +0.5 °C | – | 2 mm | – |
| July | 22.8 °C | 23.7 °C | +0.9 °C | – | 1 mm | – |
| August | 24.2 °C | 24.7 °C | +0.5 °C | – | 0 mm | – |
| September | 27.2 °C | 27.9 °C | +0.7 °C | – | 2 mm | – |
| October | 29.5 °C | 30.2 °C | +0.7 °C | – | 33 mm | – |
| November | 30.7 °C | 31.3 °C | +0.6 °C | – | 88 mm | – |
| December | 30.5 °C | 30.7 °C | +0.2 °C | – | 253 mm | – |
The largest temperature change is in July (+0.9 °C) and the smallest in February (+0.2 °C); over the year the mean difference is +0.5 °C, and 12 months out of twelve are warmer than before.
Records at Kalumburu
- Warmest year: 29.2 °C, in 2016
- Coldest year: 25.6 °C, in 1949
- Driest year: 773 mm, in 2005
- Wettest year: 1836 mm, in 2011
- Warmest month: 33.2 °C, in December 2018
- Coldest month: 19.6 °C, in June 1949
- Wettest month: 817 mm, in March 2026
- Hottest day: 43.6 °C, on 21 November 1962
- Coldest day: 1.1 °C, on 7 August 1953
- Heaviest rain in one day: 250.0 mm, on 27 February 2022
3.6 °C separate the warmest year of the series from the coldest. Between the hottest and the coldest day on record, the range reaches 42.5 °C.
Temperature trend over 1961–2025
The regression line of annual mean temperature changes by +0.16 °C per decade between 1961 and 2025, 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 159 out of 227.
The last 24 months against the 1991–2020 normal
Over the last 24 months (October 2024 to September 2026), 5 months out of 14 were warmer than the 1991–2020 normal for the same month; the mean departure is −0.1 °C. The highest departure was in October 2024 (+1.0 °C); the lowest, in June 2025 (−1.2 °C). The last twelve months add up to 1994 mm of rain, which is 154 % of the 1991–2020 annual normal (1294 mm).
| Month | Temperature | Departure from normal | Rain | Normal rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2024 | 31.2 °C | +1.0 °C | 8 mm | 33 mm |
| November 2024 | 31.1 °C | −0.2 °C | 189 mm | 88 mm |
| December 2024 | – | – | 199 mm | 253 mm |
| January 2025 | 30.3 °C | +0.4 °C | 245 mm | 350 mm |
| February 2025 | 29.4 °C | 0.0 °C | 249 mm | 294 mm |
| March 2025 | 29.8 °C | +0.7 °C | 177 mm | 223 mm |
| April 2025 | 27.9 °C | −0.4 °C | 262 mm | 35 mm |
| May 2025 | 25.5 °C | +0.1 °C | 129 mm | 13 mm |
| June 2025 | 22.6 °C | −1.2 °C | 0 mm | 2 mm |
| July 2025 | 23.4 °C | −0.3 °C | 0 mm | 1 mm |
| August 2025 | 23.8 °C | −0.9 °C | 0 mm | 0 mm |
| September 2025 | 27.6 °C | −0.3 °C | 1 mm | 2 mm |
| October 2025 | 30.9 °C | +0.7 °C | 17 mm | 33 mm |
| November 2025 | 31.2 °C | −0.1 °C | 61 mm | 88 mm |
| December 2025 | 30.2 °C | −0.5 °C | 394 mm | 253 mm |
| January 2026 | – | – | 451 mm | 350 mm |
| February 2026 | – | – | 244 mm | 294 mm |
| March 2026 | – | – | 817 mm | 223 mm |
| April 2026 | – | – | 6 mm | 35 mm |
| May 2026 | – | – | 1 mm | 13 mm |
| June 2026 | – | – | 0 mm | 2 mm |
| July 2026 | – | – | 0 mm | 1 mm |
| August 2026 | – | – | 0 mm | 0 mm |
| September 2026 | – | – | 3 mm | 2 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 Kalumburu 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 Kalumburu?
Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at Kalumburu is 27.9 °C. It was 27.4 °C over 1961–1990, a difference of +0.5 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at Kalumburu?
Since records began in 1942, the warmest year at Kalumburu is 2016, at 29.2 °C on average. The coldest is 1949 (25.6 °C).
Is the climate at Kalumburu getting warmer?
Yes: at Kalumburu, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.16 °C per decade between 1961 and 2025, +1.0 °C in total. 7 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.
Neighbouring stations