The Weather at
Guyra NSW
A compilation of present and past weather at Guyra
NSW Australia
Guyra is located on the Northern
Tablelands of New South Wales, elevation 1332 metres
This website has been prepared with information
supplied by Jeff Martin, Observer for Bureau of Meteorology at Guyra
Image: The biggest snowfall - Looking
west along Ollera Street across the snow covered
New England Highway and railway line on 4th July 1984. Image courtesy of Guyra Argus
The town of Guyra is at the
top of the range on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales with the Great
Divide running right through the town itself. The Bureau of Meteorology weather
station is located in the grounds of the Guyra
Hospital at an elevation of 1332 metres. This station
has been in operation since August 1981.
Prior to this the post office operated a weather station from 1911 to 1972 with
a number of gaps. Rainfall has been recorded for a longer period starting in
1886 at the post office.
Readings were taken twice daily at the hospital at 9am and 3pm until 1st August
2015 when it was reduced to 9am only.
RAINFALL CHART for your farm/home rainfall
recordings. PDF format - printable.
Current Weather Conditions
Present
temperature, humidity, wind and rainfall in Guyra here.
Note: This is a privately owned weather station in North Guyra.
Data recorded here varies slightly from the official station at the Guyra
Hospital.
Conditions are updated every few minutes through the Weather Underground
website. If temperatures are displayed in Farenheit,
go to the settings icon in the top right corner of the screen and set to
degrees C.
Recent Weather
Last three 9am observations from the Bureau weather
station at the Guyra Hospital here.
Monthly Data Files
Daily data for this month and the previous 12 months here.
Climate Averages
Climate averages and extremes for Guyra Post Office here.
This set of statistics uses rainfall data from 1886, but temperature
data is limited to the period 1911 to 1956 with a few missing years, and 1965
to 1972.
Climate averages and extremes for Guyra Hospital
here.
This set of statistics uses rainfall and temperature data from 1981 which means
the rainfall averages are not reliable for such a relatively short period. It
is recommended that rainfall averages from the post office site be used for
greater accuracy.
About Guyra’s
Weather
Guyra is the highest town on the Northern Tablelands
and as such records the lowest day time temperatures in the region. Overnight
temperatures however, particularly in the winter months, are frequently higher
than nearby Armidale and Glen Innes. This is because Guyra
is at the top of an exposed plateau where the wind may blow all night, whereas
Armidale and Glen Innes are in protected valleys where cold air drainage and
temperature inversions are common events allowing overnight temperatures to
drop to lower levels.
If you want to see snow on the Northern Tablelands, Guyra
is the place to be with an average of five snowfalls per year. Most years Guyra manages at least one good snowfall with snow several centimetres deep on the ground, easily enough to build a
good sized snow person! During such events the New England Highway is often
closed to the north and south of the town for a few hours or maybe a full
day.
Guyra's climate can be summed up as mild to warm in
summer and cold in winter.
Temperature
extremes:
Highest maximum: 37.8C on 15th January 1939
Lowest maximum: -0.3C on 3rd July 1984
during heavy snowfalls
Lowest minimum: -7.8C on 26th June 1971
Guyra Weather News 2025
NORTHERN TABLELANDS HEAVY SNOWFALLS - 2nd
August - Snow
fell over a wide area of the Northern Tablelands during the day. In Guyra the snow started in the early hours and continued
throughout the day, finally stopping at around 5.30pm. The snow was at its
heaviest from around 10am to 12 noon. By late afternoon snow covered the ground
to a depth of about 30 cms. The snow extended south
to Walcha and the Moonbi
Range, east along the Snowy Range to Ebor, and north to Glen Innes and across
the border to the Granite Belt where there were light falls in the Stanthorpe area, and also west to Bundarra and the
Narrabri area. The New England Highway was closed north and south of Guyra due
to snow and fallen trees, and also the road east to
Ebor. Many areas also experienced loss of electricity for extended periods due
to fallen trees across power lines.
On 3rd August snow remained on the ground in Guyra
before melting later in the day.
The snowfalls were the result of upper level cold air
over northern New South Wales combined with moisture from the east along a
surface low pressure trough associated with an intense low
pressure system off the New South Wales North Coast.
This was estimated to be Guyra’s heaviest snowfalls
since the big snow event on 3rd-4th July 1984.
Temperatures stayed around or below freezing for most of the 2nd, with the
maximum from 5am to midnight being 0.8C at 6.45am.
PHOTOGRAPHS NEEDED OF THIS EVENT - I need several good
photos of snow in Guyra from this event to add to
these webpages with a credit to yourself of course. Please email images to me here:
enquiries@weatherarmidale.com
JULY SUMMARY (Long term average in brackets)
Rainfall: 106.2 mm (59 mm) on 14 days
Average maximum temp: 10.6C (10.4C)
Average minimum temp: 1.4C (0.5C)
Highest: 16.9C on the 5th
Lowest maximum temp: 5.6C on the
3rd
Lowest: -3.0C on the 13th
Frosts: 16 (14)
Sunny days: 12 (15)
Days with thunder: 1 (1)
Days with snow: 1 (1.6)
Complete July
2025 data table (PDF
printable)
JULY SNOWFALL - 2nd July - Light
snowfalls occurred in the early hours of the morning, settling on the ground to
a depth of around 2 cms. The snow remained on the
ground until around 11am when it melted. Strong winds, cloud and drizzle
persisted throughout the day with the temperature reaching a maximum of 6.1C,
although the winds made it feel much colder. The snowfalls were produced by low
surface temperatures and showers being driven inland by an intense low pressure
system off the New South Wales Hunter coast.
COLD OUTBREAK AND SNOW - 9th June - Very cold, windy and showery
conditions affected the Northern Tablelands with light snowfalls in the higher
areas including Black Mountain, Guyra and Ben Lomond.
In Guyra the heaviest snow occurred in the morning
around 10am with lighter intermittent falls during the rest of the day. Due to
the temperature not being quite low enough, and the wet ground, the snow mostly
did not settle. The snowy conditions were the result of very cold
south-westerly winds following a front and low pressure trough combined with
upper level cold air. After a minimum temperature of 0.7C, the maximum for the
day was only 4.9C, although the strong westerly winds made it feel much colder.
This temperature was the lowest June maximum for four years.
ZERO FROSTS IN MAY CREATES NEW RECORD - Up to the end of May 2025 Guyra remained frost-free for the year. This created a new
record for the month of May with the previous lowest being one frost in May
1983 and also in 1991 (from 47 years of frost
records). In Guyra the frost season usually starts in
late April or early May. The lack of frosts was the result of an unusually high
number of low pressure troughs affecting northern New South Wales during 2025 with
cloudy conditions persisting during nights preventing the usual overnight
radiation cooling of temperatures to frost levels.
These cloudy nights also resulted in the May overnight minimum temperatures at
their highest levels on record. The average minimum for May 2025 was 6.9C. The
long term average is 3.8C (from 92 years of records). The previous highest was
6.7C in May 1989.
Guyra Weather News 2024
2024 MONTHLY STATISTICS TABLE here.
2024 - SECOND WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD - 2024 was
Australia’s second warmest year on record, and it was also Guyra’s
second warmest on record (from 86 complete years of data commencing in 1911)
with the mean temperature for the year exceeding the long term average by
1.26C. Temperatures were above average in all months except July. The warmest
year on record was the drought year of 2019 with the mean temperature exceeding
the long term average by 1.50C.
See 2024 Yearly Statistics Table.
2024 RAINFALL: 826.6 mm, 51
mm lower than the average.
WARMEST AUGUST FOR 15 YEARS - RECORDS
BROKEN - Guyra, along with other regions in
New South Wales, experienced unseasonably warm conditions in the second half of
August with temperatures reaching 18.0C or higher on 9 days with the highest of
22.0C on the 30th being the warmest for August for 15 years.
The unusually warm end to winter was caused by a number of low pressure troughs
and fast moving fronts bringing warm air into New South Wales from central
Australia.
The following new August records were created during August 2024:
Average maximum temperature 15.5C -
highest since 2009 when it was 16.2C
Average minimum 4.8C - highest on
record from 91 years of records
Daily maximum temperature of 22.0C on
the 30th - highest since 24th August 2009 when it was 25.2C
Daily minimum temperature (warmest
night) of 14.1C on the 31st - highest on record from 50 years of records.
Previous highest 12.6C on 25th August 2009
JULY SNOWFALLS - 15th-17th July - A deep low pressure system near
Tasmania directed cold air from the Southern Ocean into New South Wales from
the 15th to the 17th. Upper level cold air combined with this system to produce
very low temperatures and snowfalls over the Central Tablelands, Barrington
Tops and Northern Tablelands, with some light snow also falling in southern
Queensland.
In Guyra light snow fell in the early morning of the
15th with some settling on the ground. On the 16th intermittent snow, moderate
to heavy at times, and sago snow (ice pellets) fell throughout the day with
little or no settling. On the 17th intermittent small snowflakes fell
throughout the day with no settling.
Minimum/Maximum temperatures: 15th: 1.0C/6.1C, 16th: -0.8C/4.6C, 17th:
0.9C/3.8C.
Strong winds on the 16th caused wind chill temperatures to drop as low as -6C
during the morning.
The maximum of 3.8C on the 17th was the lowest (coldest day) in Guyra since 10th June 2021 (2.5C).
HAIL AND SNOW - 18th May - A surface low
pressure trough combined with an upper level disturbance generated clusters of
thunderstorms over north-east New South Wales during the afternoon. Storms
passed over Guyra between 3 and 4pm with rain and
hail which whitened the ground. After the storms the temperature dropped to
1.5C with brief flurries of snow which did not settle.
WETTEST APRIL FOR 21 YEARS - With
a total of 135 mm, 84 mm higher than the average, it was the wettest April
since 2003 which recorded 136 mm. The unusually high rainfall was caused by
numerous low pressure troughs developing over inland northern New South Wales
during the month.
Guyra Weather News Archive
Weather news from previous years here.
Yearly Statistics Tables
1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987
1988
1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Graph: CLIMATE CHANGE AT GUYRA -
Average yearly temperatures
since 1982. The dotted line is the 10 year average.
Snow Dates
Dates
on which it has snowed in Guyra since 1982, including light non-settling falls.
Annual average 4.6 snow days.
1982: 5 days:
21/6, 22/6, 19/7,
20/7, 30/9
1983: 5 days: 27/6,
8/7, 1/8, 28/8,
6/10
1984: 8 days: 29/6,
30/6, 3/7, 4/7,
5/7, 11/8, 12/8,
19/9
1985: 9 days: 20/5,
21/5, 5/6, 6/6,
21/6, 19/7, 8/8,
2/9, 3/9
1986: 3 days: 23/6,
9/7, 6/8
1987: 3 days: 28/5,
23/7, 1/9
1988: 2 days: 8/8,
20/9
1989: 11 days: 10/6,
11/6, 21/6, 22/6,
24/6, 17/7, 18/7,
23/7, 24/7, 8/8,
26/9
1990: 8 days: 28/6,
2/7, 3/7, 3/8, 10/8,
23/8, 26/8, 22/10
1991: 6 days: 13/6,
10/7, 11/7, 14/7,
24/8, 12/9
1992: 10 days: 11/6,
24/6, 25/6, 26/6,
10/7, 20/7, 8/8,
13/8, 16/9, 29/9
1993: 1 day: 4/8
1994: 8 days: 13/4,
28/6, 30/7, 31/7,
21/8, 21/9, 27/9,
8/10
1995: 4 days: 17/6,
21/6, 19/7, 28/7
1996: 8 days: 12/7,
13/7, 14/7, 15/7,
21/7, 30/7, 19/8,
3/9
1997: 0 days
1998: 5 days: 23/6,
30/6, 29/7, 30/7,
31/7
1999: 3 days: 16/6,
14/8, 15/8
2000: 10 days: 28/5,
29/5, 30/5, 31/5,
1/6, 30/6, 27/7,
28/7, 24/8, 25/8
2001: 4 days: 7/7,
8/7, 26/8, 27/8
2002: 0 days
2003: 2 days: 24/7,
26/7
2004: 6 days: 20/6,
8/7, 17/7, 18/7,
5/8, 18/8
2005: 4 days: 22/6,
23/6, 10/7, 17/9
2006: 3 days: 4/8,
7/9, 16/11
2007: 9 days: 8/6,
9/6, 19/6, 20/6,
27/6, 28/6, 8/7,
9/7, 10/7
2008: 9 days: 17/5,
18/5, 9/7, 27/7, 28/7, 5/8, 6/8, 23/8, 22/10
2009: 2 days: 10/6,
15/7
2010: 5 days: 3/7,
2/8, 12/8, 26/8,
16/10
2011: 5 days: 19/7,
9/8, 18/8, 10/9,
1/10
2012: 4 days: 5/6,
28/7, 1/8, 12/10
2013: 1 day: 25/6
2014: 5 days: 3/5,
4/5, 30/6, 18/7,
3/9
2015: 6 days: 5/6,
12/7, 13/7, 16/7,
17/7, 6/8
2016: 4 days: 24/6,
27/6, 5/7, 6/7
2017: 0 days
2018: 2 days: 18/6,
7/7
2019: 4 days: 4/6,
10/8, 11/8, 9/9
2020: 4 days: 2/6,
22/6, 13/7, 9/8
2021: 9 days: 9/6,
10/6, 11/6, 20/7,
21/7, 24/8, 25/8,
14/9, 21/9
2022: 2 days: 13/7,
23/8
2023: 0 days
2024: 4 days: 18/5,
15/7, 16/7, 17/7
2025: 3 days: 9/6,
2/7, 2/8
Details of Guyra
Snowfalls since 2006
Gallery of Northern
Tablelands snow photographs 1984 to 2015
The January 1939 Heatwave
During the middle of January 1939 a severe heatwave affected south-east Australia
with record high temperatures recorded in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide as
well as a number of towns in northern New South Wales.
The following maximum temperatures were recorded in Guyra:
January 10th: 33.9C, 11th: 34.4C, 12th: 33.9C,
13th: 35.0C, 14th: 35.6C, 15th:
37.8C, 16th: 35.6C, 17th: 33.3C.
The maximum of 37.8C on the 15th is the highest on record for Guyra.
On the same day nearby Armidale also recorded its highest temperature on record
of 39.7C.
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