Yongala is a weather station located 512 m above sea level, 11 km from Peterborough. Its records go back to 1884: 52 years of temperature are available up to 2024, along with rainfall and a comparison with two reference normals. Over 1991–2020 the annual mean temperature there is 15.0 °C, noticeably higher than over 1961–1990 (14.5 °C): a difference of 0.5 °C. The warmest year of the series is 1981 (15.7 °C) and the coldest 1960 (13.0 °C). The last complete year, 2013, ranks 6 out of 52, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2024, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.12 °C per decade. The station ranks 197 out of 227 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1884
The first ten years of the series (1957–1967) average 14.4 °C; the last ten (2004–2013) average 15.1 °C, a difference of +0.7 °C. Of the ten warmest years in the series, 5 fall after 1999. The warmest is 1981 (15.7 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 15.1 °C (2013) and bottoms out at 14.3 °C (1978).
Annual rainfall since 1884
On average 369 mm of rain falls per year over the 122 documented years. The wettest year, 1974, received 671 mm; the driest, 1982, only 164 mm, which is 4.1 times less. The 1991–2020 normal (350 mm per year) is 17 mm (4.6 %) below the 1961–1990 one (367 mm). Over 1991–2020, September is on average the wettest month (37 mm) and March the driest (14 mm). Between 2003 and 2024, 6 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 | 21.8 °C | 22.6 °C | +0.8 °C | 23 mm | 30 mm | +7 mm |
| February | 21.7 °C | 22.5 °C | +0.8 °C | 20 mm | 24 mm | +4 mm |
| March | 18.9 °C | 19.0 °C | +0.1 °C | 19 mm | 14 mm | −5 mm |
| April | 14.7 °C | 15.0 °C | +0.3 °C | 26 mm | 24 mm | −2 mm |
| May | 10.7 °C | 11.1 °C | +0.4 °C | 39 mm | 27 mm | −12 mm |
| June | 8.1 °C | 8.6 °C | +0.5 °C | 36 mm | 34 mm | −2 mm |
| July | 7.5 °C | 7.8 °C | +0.3 °C | 43 mm | 33 mm | −10 mm |
| August | 8.4 °C | 8.9 °C | +0.5 °C | 43 mm | 35 mm | −8 mm |
| September | 10.8 °C | 11.5 °C | +0.7 °C | 39 mm | 37 mm | −2 mm |
| October | 13.8 °C | 14.2 °C | +0.4 °C | 33 mm | 32 mm | −1 mm |
| November | 17.3 °C | 18.2 °C | +0.9 °C | 26 mm | 30 mm | +4 mm |
| December | 19.9 °C | 20.3 °C | +0.4 °C | 20 mm | 30 mm | +10 mm |
The largest temperature change is in November (+0.9 °C) and the smallest in March (+0.1 °C); over the year the mean difference is +0.5 °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 Yongala
- Warmest year: 15.7 °C, in 1981
- Coldest year: 13.0 °C, in 1960
- Driest year: 164 mm, in 1982
- Wettest year: 671 mm, in 1974
- Warmest month: 26.6 °C, in January 2006
- Coldest month: 5.5 °C, in July 1982
- Wettest month: 168 mm, in February 2011
- Hottest day: 45.0 °C, on 30 January 2026
- Coldest day: −8.2 °C, on 20 July 1976
- Heaviest rain in one day: 128.2 mm, on 5 February 2011
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 53.2 °C.
Temperature trend over 1961–2024
The regression line of annual mean temperature changes by +0.12 °C per decade between 1961 and 2024, about +0.8 °C over the whole period. That is slower than the median of the 227 stations (+0.19 °C per decade), by 0.07 °C per decade: the station ranks 197 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 Yongala 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 Yongala?
Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at Yongala is 15.0 °C. It was 14.5 °C over 1961–1990, a difference of +0.5 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at Yongala?
Since records began in 1884, the warmest year at Yongala is 1981, at 15.7 °C on average. The coldest is 1960 (13.0 °C).
Is the climate at Yongala getting warmer?
Yes: at Yongala, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.12 °C per decade between 1961 and 2024, +0.8 °C in total. 5 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.
Towns near this station
Neighbouring stations