Moruya Heads is a weather station located 17 m above sea level, 6 km from Moruya. Its records go back to 1876: 114 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 16.3 °C, noticeably higher than over 1961–1990 (15.7 °C): a difference of 0.6 °C. The warmest year of the series is 2016 (17.1 °C) and the coldest 1933 (14.4 °C). The last complete year, 2025, ranks 3 out of 114, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2025, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.20 °C per decade. The station ranks 101 out of 227 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1876
The first ten years of the series (1910–1920) average 15.3 °C; the last ten (2016–2025) average 16.6 °C, a difference of +1.3 °C. Of the ten warmest years in the series, 9 fall after 1999. The warmest is 2016 (17.1 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 16.6 °C (2025) and bottoms out at 15.1 °C (1925).
Annual rainfall since 1876
On average 953 mm of rain falls per year over the 150 documented years. The wettest year, 1934, received 1822 mm; the driest, 1982, only 460 mm, which is 4.0 times less. The 1991–2020 normal (902 mm per year) is 158 mm (14.9 %) below the 1961–1990 one (1060 mm). Over 1991–2020, February is on average the wettest month (103 mm) and September the driest (50 mm). Between 2006 and 2025, 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.
| Month | Temp. 1961–1990 | Temp. 1991–2020 | Difference | Rain 1961–1990 | Rain 1991–2020 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19.7 °C | 20.5 °C | +0.8 °C | 87 mm | 87 mm | 0 mm |
| February | 20.1 °C | 20.5 °C | +0.4 °C | 107 mm | 103 mm | −4 mm |
| March | 19.1 °C | 19.4 °C | +0.3 °C | 131 mm | 87 mm | −44 mm |
| April | 16.9 °C | 17.1 °C | +0.2 °C | 110 mm | 65 mm | −45 mm |
| May | 14.2 °C | 14.7 °C | +0.5 °C | 87 mm | 55 mm | −32 mm |
| June | 11.9 °C | 12.6 °C | +0.7 °C | 90 mm | 95 mm | +5 mm |
| July | 11.0 °C | 11.7 °C | +0.7 °C | 43 mm | 57 mm | +14 mm |
| August | 11.7 °C | 12.4 °C | +0.7 °C | 66 mm | 57 mm | −9 mm |
| September | 13.4 °C | 14.3 °C | +0.9 °C | 63 mm | 50 mm | −13 mm |
| October | 15.3 °C | 15.9 °C | +0.6 °C | 95 mm | 77 mm | −18 mm |
| November | 16.9 °C | 17.4 °C | +0.5 °C | 104 mm | 82 mm | −22 mm |
| December | 18.6 °C | 19.0 °C | +0.4 °C | 77 mm | 87 mm | +10 mm |
The largest temperature change is in September (+0.9 °C) and the smallest in April (+0.2 °C); over the year the mean difference is +0.6 °C, and 12 months out of twelve are warmer than before. For rainfall, the largest difference is in July (+14 mm) and the smallest in April (−45 mm).
Records at Moruya Heads
- Warmest year: 17.1 °C, in 2016
- Coldest year: 14.4 °C, in 1933
- Driest year: 460 mm, in 1982
- Wettest year: 1822 mm, in 1934
- Warmest month: 22.3 °C, in January 2017
- Coldest month: 9.3 °C, in July 1968
- Wettest month: 868 mm, in May 1925
- Hottest day: 44.4 °C, on 11 January 1939
- Coldest day: −1.1 °C, on 7 July 1943
- Heaviest rain in one day: 275.3 mm, on 27 May 1925
2.7 °C separate the warmest year of the series from the coldest. Between the hottest and the coldest day on record, the range reaches 45.5 °C.
Temperature trend over 1961–2025
The regression line of annual mean temperature changes by +0.20 °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 0.01 °C per decade: the station ranks 101 out of 227.
The last 24 months against the 1991–2020 normal
Over the last 24 months (May 2024 to April 2026), 16 months out of 20 were warmer than the 1991–2020 normal for the same month; the mean departure is +0.6 °C. The highest departure was in November 2024 (+1.7 °C); the lowest, in June 2025 (−1.0 °C). The last twelve months add up to 806 mm of rain, which is 89 % of the 1991–2020 annual normal (902 mm).
| Month | Temperature | Departure from normal | Rain | Normal rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2024 | 14.5 °C | −0.2 °C | 254 mm | 55 mm |
| June 2024 | 12.2 °C | −0.4 °C | 66 mm | 95 mm |
| July 2024 | 12.2 °C | +0.5 °C | 35 mm | 57 mm |
| August 2024 | 13.8 °C | +1.4 °C | 9 mm | 57 mm |
| September 2024 | 14.8 °C | +0.5 °C | 27 mm | 50 mm |
| October 2024 | 15.6 °C | −0.3 °C | 30 mm | 77 mm |
| November 2024 | 19.1 °C | +1.7 °C | 43 mm | 82 mm |
| December 2024 | 20.7 °C | +1.7 °C | 46 mm | 87 mm |
| January 2025 | 20.8 °C | +0.3 °C | 225 mm | 87 mm |
| February 2025 | 21.0 °C | +0.5 °C | 36 mm | 103 mm |
| March 2025 | 20.7 °C | +1.3 °C | 153 mm | 87 mm |
| April 2025 | 18.4 °C | +1.3 °C | 84 mm | 65 mm |
| May 2025 | 15.5 °C | +0.8 °C | 106 mm | 55 mm |
| June 2025 | 11.6 °C | −1.0 °C | 6 mm | 95 mm |
| July 2025 | 12.0 °C | +0.3 °C | 182 mm | 57 mm |
| August 2025 | 12.9 °C | +0.5 °C | 106 mm | 57 mm |
| September 2025 | 15.4 °C | +1.1 °C | 26 mm | 50 mm |
| October 2025 | 17.4 °C | +1.5 °C | 2 mm | 77 mm |
| November 2025 | 18.0 °C | +0.6 °C | 49 mm | 82 mm |
| December 2025 | 19.1 °C | +0.1 °C | 8 mm | 87 mm |
| January 2026 | – | – | 159 mm | 87 mm |
| February 2026 | – | – | 46 mm | 103 mm |
| March 2026 | – | – | 108 mm | 87 mm |
| April 2026 | – | – | 8 mm | 65 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 Moruya Heads 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 Moruya Heads?
Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at Moruya Heads is 16.3 °C. It was 15.7 °C over 1961–1990, a difference of +0.6 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at Moruya Heads?
Since records began in 1876, the warmest year at Moruya Heads is 2016, at 17.1 °C on average. The coldest is 1933 (14.4 °C).
Is the climate at Moruya Heads getting warmer?
Yes: at Moruya Heads, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.20 °C per decade between 1961 and 2025, +1.3 °C in total. 9 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.
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