Port Pirie Nyrstar Comparison is a weather station located 4 m above sea level, 2 km from Solomontown. Its records go back to 1887: 50 years of temperature are available up to 2011, along with rainfall and a comparison with two reference normals. Closed series: the records of this station end in 2011. Over 1991–2020 the annual mean temperature there is 19.1 °C, noticeably higher than over 1961–1990 (18.5 °C): a difference of 0.6 °C. The warmest year of the series is 2000 (19.9 °C) and the coldest 1958 (17.1 °C). The last complete year, 2011, ranks 9 out of 50, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2011, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.25 °C per decade. The station ranks 56 out of 227 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1887
The first ten years of the series (1958–1970) average 18.0 °C; the last ten (2001–2011) average 19.2 °C, a difference of +1.2 °C. Of the ten warmest years in the series, 4 fall after 1999. The warmest is 2000 (19.9 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 19.3 °C (2009) and bottoms out at 18.1 °C (1974).
Annual rainfall since 1887
On average 350 mm of rain falls per year over the 121 documented years. The wettest year, 1974, received 676 mm; the driest, 1967, only 180 mm, which is 3.8 times less. The 1991–2020 normal (354 mm per year) is 4 mm (1.1 %) below the 1961–1990 one (358 mm). Over 1991–2020, June is on average the wettest month (40 mm) and February the driest (16 mm). Between 1992 and 2011, 10 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 | 25.6 °C | +1.0 °C | 17 mm | 24 mm | +7 mm |
| February | 24.9 °C | 25.6 °C | +0.7 °C | 17 mm | 16 mm | −1 mm |
| March | 22.7 °C | 22.8 °C | +0.1 °C | 16 mm | 23 mm | +7 mm |
| April | 19.1 °C | 19.6 °C | +0.5 °C | 30 mm | 21 mm | −9 mm |
| May | 15.5 °C | 15.9 °C | +0.4 °C | 42 mm | 30 mm | −12 mm |
| June | 12.8 °C | 13.2 °C | +0.4 °C | 37 mm | 40 mm | +3 mm |
| July | 12.0 °C | 12.4 °C | +0.4 °C | 40 mm | 32 mm | −8 mm |
| August | 13.0 °C | 13.6 °C | +0.6 °C | 36 mm | 33 mm | −3 mm |
| September | 15.3 °C | 16.2 °C | +0.9 °C | 37 mm | 37 mm | 0 mm |
| October | 18.1 °C | 18.6 °C | +0.5 °C | 36 mm | 36 mm | 0 mm |
| November | 21.0 °C | 21.7 °C | +0.7 °C | 27 mm | 29 mm | +2 mm |
| December | 23.0 °C | 23.6 °C | +0.6 °C | 23 mm | 33 mm | +10 mm |
The largest temperature change is in January (+1.0 °C) and the smallest in March (+0.1 °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 December (+10 mm) and the smallest in May (−12 mm).
Records at Port Pirie Nyrstar Comparison
- Warmest year: 19.9 °C, in 2000
- Coldest year: 17.1 °C, in 1958
- Driest year: 180 mm, in 1967
- Wettest year: 676 mm, in 1974
- Warmest month: 29.8 °C, in January 2001
- Coldest month: 10.4 °C, in July 1957
- Wettest month: 188 mm, in May 1893
- Hottest day: 46.3 °C, on 4 January 1979
- Coldest day: −1.7 °C, on 27 June 1958
- Heaviest rain in one day: 125.0 mm, on 31 December 1979
2.8 °C separate the warmest year of the series from the coldest. Between the hottest and the coldest day on record, the range reaches 48.0 °C.
Temperature trend over 1961–2011
The regression line of annual mean temperature changes by +0.25 °C per decade between 1961 and 2011, about +1.2 °C over the whole period. That is faster than the median of the 227 stations (+0.19 °C per decade), by 0.06 °C per decade: the station ranks 56 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 Port Pirie Nyrstar Comparison 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 Port Pirie Nyrstar Comparison?
Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at Port Pirie Nyrstar Comparison is 19.1 °C. It was 18.5 °C over 1961–1990, a difference of +0.6 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at Port Pirie Nyrstar Comparison?
Since records began in 1887, the warmest year at Port Pirie Nyrstar Comparison is 2000, at 19.9 °C on average. The coldest is 1958 (17.1 °C).
Is the climate at Port Pirie Nyrstar Comparison getting warmer?
Yes: at Port Pirie Nyrstar Comparison, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.25 °C per decade between 1961 and 2011, +1.2 °C in total. 4 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.
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