Townsville is a weather station located 4 m above sea level, 4 km from Hyde Park. Its records go back to 1941: 84 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 24.9 °C, noticeably higher than over 1961–1990 (24.6 °C): a difference of 0.3 °C. The warmest year of the series is 2016 (25.9 °C) and the coldest 1941 (22.6 °C). The last complete year, 2025, ranks 2 out of 84, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2025, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.13 °C per decade. The station ranks 182 out of 227 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1941
The first ten years of the series (1941–1950) average 23.9 °C; the last ten (2016–2025) average 25.2 °C, a difference of +1.4 °C. Of the ten warmest years in the series, 5 fall after 1999. The warmest is 2016 (25.9 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 25.2 °C (2025) and bottoms out at 23.9 °C (1950).
Annual rainfall since 1941
On average 1162 mm of rain falls per year over the 85 documented years. The wettest year, 2025, received 2958 mm; the driest, 2015, only 398 mm, which is 7.4 times less. The 1991–2020 normal (1093 mm per year) is 57 mm (5.5 %) above the 1961–1990 one (1036 mm). Over 1991–2020, February is on average the wettest month (333 mm) and September the driest (10 mm). Between 2006 and 2025, 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 | 28.1 °C | 28.4 °C | +0.3 °C | 244 mm | 253 mm | +9 mm |
| February | 27.8 °C | 28.3 °C | +0.5 °C | 232 mm | 333 mm | +101 mm |
| March | 26.9 °C | 27.5 °C | +0.6 °C | 176 mm | 157 mm | −19 mm |
| April | 25.4 °C | 25.8 °C | +0.4 °C | 61 mm | 54 mm | −7 mm |
| May | 23.1 °C | 23.3 °C | +0.2 °C | 40 mm | 26 mm | −14 mm |
| June | 20.2 °C | 20.8 °C | +0.6 °C | 20 mm | 18 mm | −2 mm |
| July | 19.5 °C | 20.0 °C | +0.5 °C | 11 mm | 14 mm | +3 mm |
| August | 20.6 °C | 20.7 °C | +0.1 °C | 14 mm | 20 mm | +6 mm |
| September | 22.8 °C | 23.2 °C | +0.4 °C | 10 mm | 10 mm | 0 mm |
| October | 25.4 °C | 25.6 °C | +0.2 °C | 25 mm | 24 mm | −1 mm |
| November | 27.2 °C | 27.2 °C | 0.0 °C | 55 mm | 61 mm | +6 mm |
| December | 28.1 °C | 28.4 °C | +0.3 °C | 148 mm | 123 mm | −25 mm |
The largest temperature change is in March (+0.6 °C) and the smallest in November (0.0 °C); over the year the mean difference is +0.3 °C, and 11 months out of twelve are warmer than before. For rainfall, the largest difference is in February (+101 mm) and the smallest in December (−25 mm).
Records at Townsville
- Warmest year: 25.9 °C, in 2016
- Coldest year: 22.6 °C, in 1941
- Driest year: 398 mm, in 2015
- Wettest year: 2958 mm, in 2025
- Warmest month: 30.1 °C, in December 2001
- Coldest month: 16.9 °C, in August 1941
- Wettest month: 1198 mm, in February 2025
- Hottest day: 44.6 °C, on 7 January 1994
- Coldest day: 0.7 °C, on 9 August 1941
- Heaviest rain in one day: 548.8 mm, on 11 January 1998
3.3 °C separate the warmest year of the series from the coldest. Between the hottest and the coldest day on record, the range reaches 43.9 °C.
Temperature trend over 1961–2025
The regression line of annual mean temperature changes by +0.13 °C per decade between 1961 and 2025, about +0.8 °C over the whole period. That is slower than the median of the 227 stations (+0.19 °C per decade), by 0.06 °C per decade: the station ranks 182 out of 227.
The last 24 months against the 1991–2020 normal
Over the last 24 months (October 2024 to September 2026), 12 months out of 15 were warmer than the 1991–2020 normal for the same month; the mean departure is +0.6 °C. The highest departure was in November 2025 (+1.8 °C); the lowest, in February 2025 (−0.8 °C). The last twelve months add up to 1584 mm of rain, which is 145 % of the 1991–2020 annual normal (1093 mm).
| Month | Temperature | Departure from normal | Rain | Normal rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2024 | 26.4 °C | +0.8 °C | 2 mm | 24 mm |
| November 2024 | 27.8 °C | +0.6 °C | 125 mm | 61 mm |
| December 2024 | 28.1 °C | −0.3 °C | 487 mm | 123 mm |
| January 2025 | 29.1 °C | +0.7 °C | 148 mm | 253 mm |
| February 2025 | 27.5 °C | −0.8 °C | 1198 mm | 333 mm |
| March 2025 | 27.6 °C | +0.1 °C | 1005 mm | 157 mm |
| April 2025 | 25.9 °C | +0.1 °C | 116 mm | 54 mm |
| May 2025 | 24.5 °C | +1.2 °C | 49 mm | 26 mm |
| June 2025 | 21.4 °C | +0.6 °C | 25 mm | 18 mm |
| July 2025 | 21.6 °C | +1.6 °C | 16 mm | 14 mm |
| August 2025 | 20.9 °C | +0.2 °C | 0 mm | 20 mm |
| September 2025 | 24.1 °C | +0.9 °C | 1 mm | 10 mm |
| October 2025 | 27.1 °C | +1.5 °C | 5 mm | 24 mm |
| November 2025 | 29.0 °C | +1.8 °C | 60 mm | 61 mm |
| December 2025 | 28.2 °C | −0.2 °C | 335 mm | 123 mm |
| January 2026 | – | – | 657 mm | 253 mm |
| February 2026 | – | – | 354 mm | 333 mm |
| March 2026 | – | – | 145 mm | 157 mm |
| April 2026 | – | – | 15 mm | 54 mm |
| May 2026 | – | – | 0 mm | 26 mm |
| June 2026 | – | – | 4 mm | 18 mm |
| July 2026 | – | – | 0 mm | 14 mm |
| August 2026 | – | – | 0 mm | 20 mm |
| September 2026 | – | – | 9 mm | 10 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 Townsville 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 Townsville?
Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at Townsville is 24.9 °C. It was 24.6 °C over 1961–1990, a difference of +0.3 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at Townsville?
Since records began in 1941, the warmest year at Townsville is 2016, at 25.9 °C on average. The coldest is 1941 (22.6 °C).
Is the climate at Townsville getting warmer?
Yes: at Townsville, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.13 °C per decade between 1961 and 2025, +0.8 °C in total. 5 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.
Towns near this station
Neighbouring stations