South West Rocks (Smoky Cape L is a weather station located 117 m above sea level, 6 km from South West Rocks. Its records go back to 1939: 51 years of temperature are available up to 2022, along with rainfall and a comparison with two reference normals. Closed series: the records of this station end in 2022. Over 1991–2020 the annual mean temperature there is 20.0 °C, clearly higher than over 1961–1990 (19.2 °C): a difference of 0.8 °C. The warmest year of the series is 2000 (20.4 °C) and the coldest 1984 (18.8 °C). The last complete year, 2015, ranks 6 out of 51, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2022, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.21 °C per decade. The station ranks 96 out of 227 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1939
The first ten years of the series (1957–1966) average 19.3 °C; the last ten (1999–2015) average 20.0 °C, a difference of +0.7 °C. Of the ten warmest years in the series, 6 fall after 1999. The warmest is 2000 (20.4 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 20.2 °C (2007) and bottoms out at 19.1 °C (1968).
Annual rainfall since 1939
On average 1472 mm of rain falls per year over the 82 documented years. The wettest year, 1950, received 3011 mm; the driest, 2019, only 772 mm, which is 3.9 times less. The 1991–2020 normal (1401 mm per year) is 209 mm (13.0 %) below the 1961–1990 one (1610 mm). Over 1991–2020, March is on average the wettest month (181 mm) and September the driest (52 mm). Between 2001 and 2022, 7 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 | 22.9 °C | 24.0 °C | +1.1 °C | 172 mm | 125 mm | −47 mm |
| February | 23.1 °C | 23.9 °C | +0.8 °C | 158 mm | 178 mm | +20 mm |
| March | 22.2 °C | 23.0 °C | +0.8 °C | 211 mm | 181 mm | −30 mm |
| April | 20.3 °C | 20.7 °C | +0.4 °C | 203 mm | 154 mm | −49 mm |
| May | 17.8 °C | 18.4 °C | +0.6 °C | 163 mm | 117 mm | −46 mm |
| June | 15.6 °C | 16.2 °C | +0.6 °C | 145 mm | 144 mm | −1 mm |
| July | 14.8 °C | 15.5 °C | +0.7 °C | 68 mm | 71 mm | +3 mm |
| August | 15.6 °C | 16.5 °C | +0.9 °C | 75 mm | 62 mm | −13 mm |
| September | 17.4 °C | 18.5 °C | +1.1 °C | 59 mm | 52 mm | −7 mm |
| October | 18.9 °C | 19.9 °C | +1.0 °C | 115 mm | 69 mm | −46 mm |
| November | 20.4 °C | 21.1 °C | +0.7 °C | 109 mm | 130 mm | +21 mm |
| December | 22.0 °C | 22.5 °C | +0.5 °C | 132 mm | 118 mm | −14 mm |
The largest temperature change is in January (+1.1 °C) and the smallest in April (+0.4 °C); over the year the mean difference is +0.8 °C, and 12 months out of twelve are warmer than before. For rainfall, the largest difference is in November (+21 mm) and the smallest in April (−49 mm).
Records at South West Rocks (Smoky Cape L
- Warmest year: 20.4 °C, in 2000
- Coldest year: 18.8 °C, in 1984
- Driest year: 772 mm, in 2019
- Wettest year: 3011 mm, in 1950
- Warmest month: 25.2 °C, in February 1998
- Coldest month: 13.8 °C, in July 1957
- Wettest month: 703 mm, in April 1963
- Hottest day: 39.5 °C, on 2 January 2002
- Coldest day: 4.0 °C, on 25 August 1997
- Heaviest rain in one day: 350.0 mm, on 20 March 2021
1.6 °C separate the warmest year of the series from the coldest. Between the hottest and the coldest day on record, the range reaches 35.5 °C.
Temperature trend over 1961–2022
The regression line of annual mean temperature changes by +0.21 °C per decade between 1961 and 2022, 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 96 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 South West Rocks (Smoky Cape L 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 South West Rocks (Smoky Cape L?
Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at South West Rocks (Smoky Cape L is 20.0 °C. It was 19.2 °C over 1961–1990, a difference of +0.8 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at South West Rocks (Smoky Cape L?
Since records began in 1939, the warmest year at South West Rocks (Smoky Cape L is 2000, at 20.4 °C on average. The coldest is 1984 (18.8 °C).
Is the climate at South West Rocks (Smoky Cape L getting warmer?
Yes: at South West Rocks (Smoky Cape L, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.21 °C per decade between 1961 and 2022, +1.3 °C in total. 6 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.
Towns near this station
Neighbouring stations