The
Climate at Armidale NSW
Altocumulus cloud drifts over a dam at sunrise near Armidale on
Photography by Downunder
Chasing
Armidale is located on the New England Plateau in
northern
The Seasons
Summers are characterised by warm to very warm days followed almost always by
cool, sometimes cold, nights. Thunderstorms often produce heavy falls of rain
and occasionally hail in the afternoons and early evenings, also bringing a
sudden drop in temperature to provide relief after a hot summer's day. Unlike
nearby coastal areas, Armidale does not usually experience high humidity levels
making most of the summer days quite comfortable. Temperatures exceed 30
degrees on average of 13 days per year, but rarely reach higher than 35
degrees.
The autumn season is described by many as the best time of year
in Armidale. As the leaves turn yellow and fall, day temperatures are mostly
still warm, particularly in March and April. Days are sunny, the thunderstorm
season is over, and rain becomes more sporadic. Nights become colder, and
residents often awake to a thick fog blanketing the Armidale valley, but by
Winters are cold and bracing. Overnight temperatures often drop below minus 5
degrees with a thick white frost on the ground, and occasionally as low as
minus 10 degrees. These cold frosty mornings are usually followed by sunny
days, but beware of the wind. Day temperatures may make it as high as 16
degrees, but sometimes may not climb beyond 10 degrees. These are the true
In spring temperatures are milder, although early morning
frosts still continue well into October. September is usually a cool windy
month, and by late October the thunderstorm season is starting with increasing
rainfalls. The spring months produce the most variable weather of the year. A
week of warm sunny weather can be followed by several cold days with
temperatures right back at winter levels before gradually warming up again. This
cycle often repeats itself many times right through until the start of summer.
© Peter Burr. This article is copyright. No part may
be reproduced for commercial purposes without prior permission from the
author.
Updated 7 Feb 2016.
Climate Averages & Extremes
Armidale NSW
|
|
NY |
JAN |
FEB |
MAR |
APR |
MAY |
JUN |
JUL |
AUG |
SEP |
OCT |
NOV |
DEC |
YEAR |
|
|
|
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|
AV. DAILY MAX TEMP deg C |
35 |
26.4 |
25.4 |
23.4 |
20.0 |
16.3 |
13.1 |
12.4 |
14.2 |
17.7 |
20.8 |
23.0 |
25.0 |
19.8 |
|
|
|
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|
AV. DAILY MIN TEMP deg C |
35 |
12.7 |
12.5 |
10.2 |
6.4 |
3.0 |
0.7 |
-0.3 |
-0.2 |
2.5 |
5.5 |
9.0 |
11.1 |
6.1 |
|
|
|
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|
AV. DAILY GRASS MIN deg C |
18 |
9.7 |
9.8 |
7.1 |
3.0 |
-1.6 |
-3.0 |
-4.1 |
-4.3 |
-1.5 |
1.8 |
6.1 |
8.2 |
2.6 |
|
|
|
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|
HI. MAX TEMP ON REC.
deg C |
35 |
37.1 |
35.8 |
33.8 |
30.2 |
23.5 |
22.3 |
20.0 |
27.4 |
28.7 |
31.5 |
35.6 |
34.8 |
37.1 |
|
Day of Month/Year |
|
3/14 |
3/06 |
20/15 |
4/86 |
19/03 |
7/02 |
24/90 |
24/09 |
26/13 |
19/02 |
23/15 |
19/90 |
|
|
|
|
25/02 |
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|
LO. MAX TEMP ON REC. deg C |
35 |
14.3 |
14.0 |
13.5 |
8.9 |
6.5 |
4.2 |
2.6 |
4.4 |
6.2 |
7.7 |
8.0 |
12.5 |
2.6 |
|
Day of Month/Year |
|
27/84 |
14/09 |
26/89 |
12/94 |
29/00 |
23/98 |
3/84 |
19/96 |
19/84 |
12/12 |
19/86 |
2/86 |
|
|
|
|
24/86 |
30/00 |
|||||||||||
|
HI. MIN TEMP ON REC.
deg C |
35 |
21.4 |
20.3 |
19.6 |
17.1 |
14.1 |
12.7 |
11.8 |
14.8 |
16.8 |
16.7 |
20.7 |
20.0 |
21.4 |
|
Day of Month/Year |
|
26/82 |
23/04 |
15/89 |
13/98 |
2/83 |
5/88 |
1/81 |
25/09 |
30/00 |
30/88 |
30/97 |
11/88 |
|
|
|
|
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|
LO. MIN TEMP ON REC.
deg C |
35 |
2.6 |
2.5 |
-1.7 |
-5.8 |
-8.8 |
-11.2 |
-10.8 |
-10.2 |
-7.0 |
-4.7 |
-3.0 |
-0.5 |
-11.2 |
|
Day of Month/Year |
|
19/10 |
4/05 |
30/08 |
30/08 |
23/82 |
30/10 |
10/06 |
4/94 |
23/91 |
21/86 |
3/03 |
4/87 |
|
|
|
|
14/92 |
7/02 |
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|
LO. GRASS MIN ON REC. deg C |
29 |
-1.6 |
0.3 |
-5.6 |
-9.8 |
-13.1 |
-15.4 |
-15.3 |
-13.7 |
-11.1 |
-8.5 |
-6.7 |
-4.9 |
-15.4 |
|
Day of Month/Year |
|
12/12 |
4/05 |
30/08 |
26/04 |
23/82 |
30/10 |
10/06 |
14/02 |
3/12 |
4/13 |
3/03 |
7/02 |
|
|
|
|
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|
AVERAGE RAINFALL mm |
152 |
101.4 |
88.3 |
65.0 |
45.3 |
42.9 |
55.0 |
47.9 |
47.6 |
50.7 |
67.3 |
83.3 |
89.1 |
784.0 |
|
|
|
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|
AVERAGE RAIN DAYS |
145 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
8 |
8 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
110 |
|
|
|
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|
HI. RAINFALL ON REC.
mm |
151 |
274.6 |
314.2 |
235.4 |
236.5 |
197.6 |
268.3 |
161.7 |
287.9 |
165.5 |
194.4 |
244.4 |
288.8 |
1508.0 |
|
Year |
|
1863 |
1878 |
1893 |
1863 |
1963 |
1950 |
1950 |
1949 |
1932 |
1955 |
2011 |
1865 |
1863 |
|
|
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|
LOW RAINFALL ON REC.
mm |
151 |
7.7 |
1.8 |
1.3 |
0.0 |
1.0 |
2.2 |
0.5 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.8 |
4.1 |
0.3 |
420.0 |
|
Year |
|
1903 |
1958 |
1874 |
1912 |
1957 |
1986 |
1970 |
1995 |
1879 |
1864 |
1926 |
1864 |
1874 |
|
|
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|
AVERAGE EVAPORATION
mm |
33 |
161.2 |
125.4 |
114.0 |
75.9 |
50.4 |
36.7 |
42.0 |
65.3 |
95.7 |
128.3 |
135.5 |
158.5 |
1188.8 |
|
AV. DAILY EVAPORATION
mm |
33 |
5.2 |
4.5 |
3.7 |
2.5 |
1.6 |
1.2 |
1.4 |
2.1 |
3.2 |
4.1 |
4.5 |
5.1 |
3.3 |
|
|
|
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|
AV. DAILY WIND RUN
km |
35 |
154.3 |
147.0 |
141.4 |
125.8 |
124.1 |
145.6 |
152.9 |
165.9 |
171.1 |
158.3 |
154.1 |
155.3 |
149.6 |
|
PREVAILING WIND DIRECTION |
39 |
EAST |
EAST |
EAST |
EAST |
WEST |
WEST |
WEST |
WEST |
WEST |
WEST |
WEST |
WEST |
- |
|
|
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|
AVERAGE FROSTS days |
35 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.7 |
5.3 |
13.6 |
16.5 |
19.4 |
20.1 |
14.8 |
6.6 |
1.3 |
0.3 |
98.5 |
|
AVERAGE FOGS days |
59 |
1.0 |
1.5 |
3.4 |
4.6 |
5.0 |
4.3 |
3.4 |
2.1 |
2.0 |
1.8 |
1.2 |
1.1 |
31.4 |
|
AVERAGE T/STORMS
days |
39 |
6.4 |
4.7 |
2.5 |
0.9 |
0.7 |
0.5 |
0.3 |
0.6 |
2.4 |
3.9 |
5.9 |
7.8 |
36.7 |
|
AVERAGE HAILFALLS
days |
59 |
0.3 |
0.2 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.4 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
3.3 |
|
AVERAGE SNOWFALLS days |
59 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.1 |
0.3 |
0.7 |
0.5 |
0.2 |
0.1 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
2.1 |
|
AVERAGE FINE SUNNY DAYS |
32 |
15.3 |
12.4 |
16.1 |
15.9 |
15.0 |
13.2 |
15.1 |
18.4 |
19.4 |
18.0 |
13.5 |
14.9 |
187.2 |
|
|
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|
AV. SUNSHINE PER DAY
hrs |
16 |
8.0 |
7.8 |
6.9 |
6.2 |
4.8 |
4.8 |
5.4 |
6.2 |
6.8 |
7.3 |
7.7 |
8.1 |
6.8 |
|
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Temperature, frost, evaporation and wind run averages and
extremes calculated from all available data recorded at |
||||||||||||||
|
Bureau of Meteorology weather station at East Armidale
(1981-2015), elevation 987 metres, BoM station number 56037 |
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|
Sunshine data from University of New England weather
station at Laureldale Farm (1977-1993), North Armidale,
elevation 1060 metres |
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|
All other data including rainfall from composite records at
Armidale Post Office (1857-1965), Radio Station 2AD (1965-1997), |
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|
elevation 980 metres, and East Armidale (from 1997). |
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Updated to end of 2015. |
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