Temperature
The weather is moderated by proximity to the ocean, and more extreme temperatures are recorded in the inland western suburbs. The warmest month is January, with an average air temperature range at Observatory Hill of 18.6–25.8 °C (65–78 °F). An average of 14.6 days a year have temperatures of more than 30 °C (86.0 °F). The maximum recorded temperature was 45.3 °C (113.5 °F) on 14 January 1939 at the end of a four-day heatwave across Australia.In winter, temperatures rarely drop below 5 °C (41 °F) in coastal areas. The coldest month is July, with an average range of 8.0–16.2 °C (46–61 °F). The lowest recorded minimum at Observatory Hill was 2.1 °C (35.8 °F).
Inland, in Sydney’s western suburbs, the climate is drier and summers are much hotter with temperatures around 2-5 degrees Celsius above Sydney's and winter lows around 2 degrees cooler than the coastal suburbs. Although Sydney has high humidity and precipitation levels in summers, it does get dry heatwaves that bring hot and arid searing winds from the desert that make the temperatures soar to 40° Celsius. Heat waves lead to water restrictions and a high risk of bushfires (that sometimes bring a smoky haze to the city). Hot summer days often end with a "southerly buster", a cold front sweeping up from the south which abruptly cool the temperature by bringing thunderstorms and gale winds.
| Climate data for Sydney | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 45.3 (113.5) |
42.1 (107.8) |
39.8 (103.6) |
33.9 (93.0) |
30.0 (86.0) |
26.9 (80.4) |
25.9 (78.6) |
31.3 (88.3) |
34.6 (94.3) |
38.2 (100.8) |
41.8 (107.2) |
42.2 (108.0) |
45.3 (113.5) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 25.9 (78.6) |
25.8 (78.4) |
24.7 (76.5) |
22.4 (72.3) |
19.4 (66.9) |
16.9 (62.4) |
16.3 (61.3) |
17.8 (64.0) |
20.0 (68.0) |
22.1 (71.8) |
23.6 (74.5) |
25.2 (77.4) |
21.7 (71.1) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 18.7 (65.7) |
18.8 (65.8) |
17.5 (63.5) |
14.7 (58.5) |
11.5 (52.7) |
9.3 (48.7) |
8.0 (46.4) |
8.9 (48.0) |
11.1 (52.0) |
13.5 (56.3) |
15.6 (60.1) |
17.5 (63.5) |
13.8 (56.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 10.6 (51.1) |
9.6 (49.3) |
9.3 (48.7) |
7.0 (44.6) |
4.4 (39.9) |
2.1 (35.8) |
2.2 (36.0) |
2.7 (36.9) |
4.9 (40.8) |
5.7 (42.3) |
7.7 (45.9) |
9.1 (48.4) |
2.1 (35.8) |
| Rainfall mm (inches) | 101.5 (3.996) |
118.1 (4.65) |
129.3 (5.091) |
126.3 (4.972) |
121.2 (4.772) |
130.5 (5.138) |
98.6 (3.882) |
80.6 (3.173) |
68.9 (2.713) |
77.4 (3.047) |
83.8 (3.299) |
77.9 (3.067) |
1,213.2 (47.764) |
| Avg. rainy days | 12.2 | 12.4 | 13.5 | 12.8 | 13.2 | 12.5 | 11.2 | 10.4 | 10.6 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 11.5 | 143.7 |
| Mean daily sunshine hours | 7.1 | 6.7 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 5.9 | 5.5 | 6.4 | 7.1 | 7.2 | 7.2 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 6.8 |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology | |||||||||||||
| Climate data for Sydney Airport (1929-2012) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 45.2 (113.4) |
42.6 (108.7) |
41.2 (106.2) |
35.7 (96.3) |
30.0 (86.0) |
26.8 (80.2) |
26.7 (80.1) |
31.1 (88.0) |
35.6 (96.1) |
39.1 (102.4) |
43.4 (110.1) |
43.2 (109.8) |
45.2 (113.4) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 26.5 (79.7) |
26.4 (79.5) |
25.2 (77.4) |
22.9 (73.2) |
20.0 (68.0) |
17.6 (63.7) |
17.0 (62.6) |
18.3 (64.9) |
20.5 (68.9) |
22.5 (72.5) |
24.0 (75.2) |
25.7 (78.3) |
22.2 (72.0) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 18.8 (65.8) |
19.0 (66.2) |
17.5 (63.5) |
14.2 (57.6) |
10.9 (51.6) |
8.6 (47.5) |
7.1 (44.8) |
8.1 (46.6) |
10.4 (50.7) |
13.2 (55.8) |
15.4 (59.7) |
17.5 (63.5) |
13.4 (56.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 9.7 (49.5) |
11.2 (52.2) |
7.4 (45.3) |
6.1 (43.0) |
3.0 (37.4) |
1.0 (33.8) |
−0.1 (31.8) |
1.2 (34.2) |
2.3 (36.1) |
4.8 (40.6) |
5.9 (42.6) |
8.2 (46.8) |
−0.1 (31.8) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 94.0 (3.701) |
112.9 (4.445) |
116.3 (4.579) |
106.3 (4.185) |
100.1 (3.941) |
120.7 (4.752) |
71.0 (2.795) |
75.5 (2.972) |
60.3 (2.374) |
70.7 (2.783) |
81.2 (3.197) |
74.3 (2.925) |
1,083.3 (42.65) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 11.2 | 11.5 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.2 | 9.3 | 9.1 | 9.3 | 10.7 | 11.5 | 10.6 | 128.8 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 232.5 | 198.8 | 213.9 | 207.0 | 189.1 | 180.0 | 204.6 | 241.8 | 237.0 | 241.8 | 228.0 | 244.9 | 2,619.4 |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology | |||||||||||||
| Climate data for Liverpool (Sydney's west) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 44.8 (112.6) |
45.8 (114.4) |
41.0 (105.8) |
37.1 (98.8) |
29.6 (85.3) |
25.9 (78.6) |
26.8 (80.2) |
30.5 (86.9) |
35.4 (95.7) |
39.8 (103.6) |
43.3 (109.9) |
43.5 (110.3) |
45.8 (114.4) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 28.2 (82.8) |
27.9 (82.2) |
26.4 (79.5) |
23.9 (75.0) |
20.5 (68.9) |
17.8 (64.0) |
17.3 (63.1) |
18.9 (66.0) |
21.5 (70.7) |
23.7 (74.7) |
25.3 (77.5) |
27.5 (81.5) |
23.2 (73.8) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 17.6 (63.7) |
17.7 (63.9) |
15.9 (60.6) |
12.4 (54.3) |
9.3 (48.7) |
6.3 (43.3) |
4.7 (40.5) |
5.8 (42.4) |
8.3 (46.9) |
11.5 (52.7) |
13.8 (56.8) |
16.2 (61.2) |
11.6 (52.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 7.8 (46.0) |
9.4 (48.9) |
5.0 (41.0) |
−3.2 (26.2) |
−1.5 (29.3) |
−2 (28.4) |
−5 (23.0) |
−3.4 (25.9) |
−1.8 (28.8) |
3.3 (37.9) |
4.7 (40.5) |
7.8 (46.0) |
−5 (23.0) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 97.6 (3.843) |
94.9 (3.736) |
101.0 (3.976) |
85.3 (3.358) |
68.8 (2.709) |
71.3 (2.807) |
40.2 (1.583) |
55.9 (2.201) |
45.6 (1.795) |
61.6 (2.425) |
78.3 (3.083) |
67.4 (2.654) |
867.7 (34.161) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 10.7 | 10.4 | 10.9 | 8.3 | 9.3 | 8.6 | 7.2 | 7.4 | 8.0 | 9.3 | 10.4 | 9.1 | 109.6 |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology | |||||||||||||
| Climate data for Penrith (The far west) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 46.0 (114.8) |
45.0 (113.0) |
40.6 (105.1) |
34.2 (93.6) |
28.4 (83.1) |
26.0 (78.8) |
26.7 (80.1) |
29.7 (85.5) |
35.8 (96.4) |
38.9 (102.0) |
43.0 (109.4) |
42.3 (108.1) |
46.0 (114.8) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 30.7 (87.3) |
29.6 (85.3) |
27.4 (81.3) |
24.4 (75.9) |
20.9 (69.6) |
18.1 (64.6) |
17.7 (63.9) |
19.8 (67.6) |
23.2 (73.8) |
25.4 (77.7) |
27.1 (80.8) |
29.1 (84.4) |
24.5 (76.1) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 18.4 (65.1) |
18.6 (65.5) |
16.6 (61.9) |
13.0 (55.4) |
9.3 (48.7) |
6.7 (44.1) |
5.5 (41.9) |
6.2 (43.2) |
9.4 (48.9) |
12.0 (53.6) |
14.9 (58.8) |
16.8 (62.2) |
12.3 (54.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 10.6 (51.1) |
11.6 (52.9) |
8.3 (46.9) |
3.6 (38.5) |
2.1 (35.8) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
−1.4 (29.5) |
−0.5 (31.1) |
2.5 (36.5) |
5.0 (41.0) |
7.8 (46.0) |
9.8 (49.6) |
−1.4 (29.5) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 87.7 (3.453) |
134.2 (5.283) |
71.9 (2.831) |
40.5 (1.594) |
42.9 (1.689) |
49.7 (1.957) |
32.1 (1.264) |
27.5 (1.083) |
33.9 (1.335) |
57.8 (2.276) |
82.9 (3.264) |
57.2 (2.252) |
718.4 (28.283) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 11.4 | 11.5 | 11.6 | 9.7 | 12.0 | 14.7 | 12.3 | 9.0 | 7.6 | 9.8 | 12.2 | 10.6 | 132.4 |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology | |||||||||||||
Read more about this topic: Climate Of Sydney
Famous quotes containing the word temperature:
“The bourgeois treasures nothing more highly than the self.... And so at the cost of intensity he achieves his own preservation and security. His harvest is a quiet mind which he prefers to being possessed by God, as he prefers comfort to pleasure, convenience to liberty, and a pleasant temperature to that deathly inner consuming fire.”
—Hermann Hesse (1877–1962)
“The bourgeois treasures nothing more highly than the self.... And so at the cost of intensity he achieves his own preservation and security. His harvest is a quiet mind which he prefers to being possessed by God, as he prefers comfort to pleasure, convenience to liberty, and a pleasant temperature to that deathly inner consuming fire.”
—Hermann Hesse (1877–1962)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)