Nelson Bay (Nelson Head) is a weather station located 25 m above sea level, 5 km from Fingal Bay. Its records go back to 1882: 21 years of temperature are available up to 2023, along with rainfall and a comparison with two reference normals. Closed series: the records of this station end in 2023. Over the whole series (21 years) the annual mean temperature there is 19.0 °C; the 1961–1990 and 1991–2020 reference periods are not documented well enough for a comparison. The warmest year of the series is 2017 (19.7 °C) and the coldest 1970 (17.8 °C). The last complete year, 2023, ranks 10 out of 21, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2023, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.21 °C per decade. The station ranks 95 out of 227 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1882
The first ten years of the series (1970–2011) average 18.9 °C; the last ten (2013–2023) average 19.2 °C, a difference of +0.3 °C. All of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999; the warmest is 2017 (19.7 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 19.3 °C (2018) and bottoms out at 19.0 °C (2012).
Annual rainfall since 1882
On average 1331 mm of rain falls per year over the 115 documented years. The wettest year, 1949, received 2336 mm; the driest, 1917, only 417 mm, which is 5.6 times less. Over 1991–2020, June is on average the wettest month (180 mm) and October the driest (76 mm). Between 2003 and 2023, 8 years out of 20 exceeded the series average.
Records at Nelson Bay (Nelson Head)
- Warmest year: 19.7 °C, in 2017
- Coldest year: 17.8 °C, in 1970
- Driest year: 417 mm, in 1917
- Wettest year: 2336 mm, in 1949
- Warmest month: 24.9 °C, in February 2010
- Coldest month: 11.9 °C, in July 1971
- Wettest month: 688 mm, in March 2021
- Hottest day: 40.6 °C, on 19 November 1968
- Coldest day: 1.1 °C, on 10 August 1971
- Heaviest rain in one day: 257.8 mm, on 9 February 1889
1.9 °C separate the warmest year of the series from the coldest. Between the hottest and the coldest day on record, the range reaches 39.5 °C.
Temperature trend over 1961–2023
The regression line of annual mean temperature changes by +0.21 °C per decade between 1961 and 2023, 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 95 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 Nelson Bay (Nelson Head) 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 Nelson Bay (Nelson Head)?
Over the whole series (21 years), the annual mean temperature at Nelson Bay (Nelson Head) is 19.0 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at Nelson Bay (Nelson Head)?
Since records began in 1882, the warmest year at Nelson Bay (Nelson Head) is 2017, at 19.7 °C on average. The coldest is 1970 (17.8 °C).
Is the climate at Nelson Bay (Nelson Head) getting warmer?
Yes: at Nelson Bay (Nelson Head), the annual mean temperature rises by 0.21 °C per decade between 1961 and 2023, +1.3 °C in total. 10 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.
Towns near this station
Neighbouring stations