Climate and average weather in Cairns
In Cairns, the summers are muggy, hot, wet, and mostly cloudy and the winters are warm and mostly clear.
Over the course of the year, the temperature in Cairns typically varies from 17°C to 28°C, and is rarely below 14°C or above 31°C. January is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.
Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Cairns for warm-weather activities is from late April to mid November.
- Hottest
- Jan
- 28°
- Coldest
- Jul
- 17°
- Wettest
- Feb
- 254 mm
- Driest
- Sep
- 14 mm
- Rain / yr
- 1162 mm
- 138 wet days
- Daylight
- 11.0–13.0 h
- shortest–longest
- Elevation
- 7 m
- 16.9°S
- Clearest
- Oct
- 40% cloud
Cairns is city in Queensland, Australia.
- Density
- 314/km²
- people per km²
- Founded
- 1876
Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.
Cairns weather by month, at a glance
The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.
Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around late April to mid November.
Temperature through the year
Daily average highs and lows in Cairns, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.
Temperatures in Cairns stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is January, with an average high of 28°C and low of 23°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 17°C and high of 22°C.
Days typically run about 5°C warmer than nights year-round.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high (°C) | 28 | 28 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| Avg low (°C) | 23 | 24 | 23 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 23 |
| Avg high (°C) | Avg low (°C) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 28 | 23 |
| Feb | 28 | 24 |
| Mar | 28 | 23 |
| Apr | 26 | 21 |
| May | 24 | 20 |
| Jun | 23 | 18 |
| Jul | 22 | 17 |
| Aug | 23 | 17 |
| Sep | 24 | 18 |
| Oct | 26 | 20 |
| Nov | 27 | 22 |
| Dec | 28 | 23 |
How hot and cold Cairns really feels
The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.
On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Cairns feels like about 32°C (around February 1). About 10 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in February.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feels-like high (°C) | 32 | 32 | 30 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 26 | 28 | 31 |
| Air high (°C) | 28 | 28 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| Feels-like low (°C) | 23 | 24 | 23 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 23 |
| Air low (°C) | 23 | 24 | 23 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 23 |
| Feels-like high (°C) | Air high (°C) | Feels-like low (°C) | Air low (°C) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32 | 28 | 23 | 23 |
| Feb | 32 | 28 | 24 | 24 |
| Mar | 30 | 28 | 23 | 23 |
| Apr | 26 | 26 | 21 | 21 |
| May | 24 | 24 | 19 | 20 |
| Jun | 23 | 23 | 18 | 18 |
| Jul | 22 | 22 | 17 | 17 |
| Aug | 23 | 23 | 17 | 17 |
| Sep | 24 | 24 | 18 | 18 |
| Oct | 26 | 26 | 20 | 20 |
| Nov | 28 | 27 | 22 | 22 |
| Dec | 31 | 28 | 23 | 23 |
Average hourly temperature in Cairns
A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.
Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on January afternoons, near 28°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 17°C.
Cairns weather by month
Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.
| Month | High / Low (°C) | Rainfall (mm) | Wet days | Daylight (hours) | Travel score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 28° / 23° | 246 | 21.3 | 12.9 | 4.2 |
| Feb | 28° / 24° | 254 | 20.7 | 12.6 | 4.0 |
| Mar | 28° / 23° | 206 | 17.9 | 12.1 | 5.2 |
| Apr | 26° / 21° | 94 | 12.7 | 11.6 | 6.3 |
| May | 24° / 20° | 41 | 9.5 | 11.2 | 7.1 |
| Jun | 23° / 18° | 27 | 7 | 11 | 7.4 |
| Jul | 22° / 17° | 27 | 5.9 | 11.1 | 7.5 |
| Aug | 23° / 17° | 24 | 5.5 | 11.4 | 7.7 |
| Sep | 24° / 18° | 14 | 4.1 | 11.9 | 8.2 |
| Oct | 26° / 20° | 32 | 6.5 | 12.4 | 7.6 |
| Nov | 27° / 22° | 57 | 10.4 | 12.8 | 6.6 |
| Dec | 28° / 23° | 142 | 16.1 | 13 | 5.2 |
Chance of rain
How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.
Cairns gets about 1162 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.
The wetter season lasts 5.1 months, from around Nov 19 to Apr 21, peaking in February at about 73% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Sep 18.
February is the wettest month by volume, with 254 mm over about 21 wet days; September is the driest, with 14 mm.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rain on a day (%) | 69 | 73 | 59 | 42 | 31 | 23 | 19 | 18 | 14 | 21 | 34 | 51 |
| Rain days | 21 | 21 | 18 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 16 |
| Rain on a day (%) | Rain days | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 69 | 21 |
| Feb | 73 | 21 |
| Mar | 59 | 18 |
| Apr | 42 | 13 |
| May | 31 | 10 |
| Jun | 23 | 7 |
| Jul | 19 | 6 |
| Aug | 18 | 6 |
| Sep | 14 | 4 |
| Oct | 21 | 7 |
| Nov | 34 | 10 |
| Dec | 51 | 16 |
Monthly rainfall
Over a full year, Cairns collects about 1162 mm of rain across 138 wet days — roughly 97 mm in an average month.
It doesn’t fall evenly. February is the wettest month with 254 mm, while September is the driest at just 14 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 61% of the year’s total.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainfall (mm) | 246 | 254 | 206 | 94 | 41 | 27 | 27 | 24 | 14 | 32 | 57 | 142 |
| Rain days | 21 | 21 | 18 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 16 |
| Rainfall (mm) | Rain days | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 246 | 21 |
| Feb | 254 | 21 |
| Mar | 206 | 18 |
| Apr | 94 | 13 |
| May | 41 | 10 |
| Jun | 27 | 7 |
| Jul | 27 | 6 |
| Aug | 24 | 6 |
| Sep | 14 | 4 |
| Oct | 32 | 7 |
| Nov | 57 | 10 |
| Dec | 142 | 16 |
Clouds and sunshine
How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.
In Cairns, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.
The clearer part of the year begins around June 27 and lasts for 5.5 months, ending around December 9. The clearest month is October, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 76% of the time on average.
The cloudier part of the year begins around December 10 and lasts for 4.3 months, ending around April 18. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 67% of the time.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clearer (%) | 34 | 33 | 40 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 66 | 68 | 73 | 76 | 69 | 50 |
| Cloudier (%) | 66 | 67 | 60 | 44 | 43 | 42 | 34 | 32 | 27 | 24 | 31 | 50 |
| Clearer (%) | Cloudier (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 34 | 66 |
| Feb | 33 | 67 |
| Mar | 40 | 60 |
| Apr | 56 | 44 |
| May | 57 | 43 |
| Jun | 58 | 42 |
| Jul | 66 | 34 |
| Aug | 68 | 32 |
| Sep | 73 | 27 |
| Oct | 76 | 24 |
| Nov | 69 | 31 |
| Dec | 50 | 50 |
Daylight, sunrise and sunset
Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.
The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around January 1, brings about 13 hours of light; the shortest, around June 4, only 11 hours — a swing of roughly 2 hours.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 12.9 | 12.6 | 12.1 | 11.6 | 11.2 | 11.0 | 11.1 | 11.4 | 11.9 | 12.4 | 12.8 | 13.0 |
| Sunrise (AM) | 5:59 | 6:15 | 6:23 | 6:29 | 6:37 | 6:47 | 6:50 | 6:38 | 6:14 | 5:50 | 5:38 | 5:43 |
| Sunset (PM) | 6:53 | 6:49 | 6:30 | 6:06 | 5:50 | 5:47 | 5:55 | 6:04 | 6:08 | 6:14 | 6:26 | 6:43 |
| Daylight (h) | Sunrise (AM) | Sunset (PM) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 12.9 | 5:59 | 6:53 |
| Feb | 12.6 | 6:15 | 6:49 |
| Mar | 12.1 | 6:23 | 6:30 |
| Apr | 11.6 | 6:29 | 6:06 |
| May | 11.2 | 6:37 | 5:50 |
| Jun | 11.0 | 6:47 | 5:47 |
| Jul | 11.1 | 6:50 | 5:55 |
| Aug | 11.4 | 6:38 | 6:04 |
| Sep | 11.9 | 6:14 | 6:08 |
| Oct | 12.4 | 5:50 | 6:14 |
| Nov | 12.8 | 5:38 | 6:26 |
| Dec | 13.0 | 5:43 | 6:43 |
Sunny days
How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.
Cairns averages about 10 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 5 and 16 days.
The sunnier stretch runs 5.3 months, from around Jun 29 to Dec 5. The sunniest month is October, with roughly 16 sunny days (bright).
The greyest month is January, down near 5 sunny days — about 67% fewer than the October peak.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunny days | 5 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 13 | 8 |
| Sky | Gloomy | Gloomy | Gloomy | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Bright | Mixed | Mixed |
| Sunny days | Sky | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 5 | Gloomy |
| Feb | 5 | Gloomy |
| Mar | 7 | Gloomy |
| Apr | 9 | Mixed |
| May | 9 | Mixed |
| Jun | 10 | Mixed |
| Jul | 12 | Mixed |
| Aug | 13 | Mixed |
| Sep | 14 | Mixed |
| Oct | 16 | Bright |
| Nov | 13 | Mixed |
| Dec | 8 | Mixed |
Humidity comfort
Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.
Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.
In Cairns, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.
The more humid part of the year lasts 7.7 months, from around September 28 to May 20. The muggiest month is January, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.
The most comfortable stretch runs from around May 21 to September 27, and August is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 45% of the time.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry (%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 17 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Comfortable (%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 17 | 29 | 34 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Humid (%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 31 | 48 | 45 | 45 | 52 | 37 | 11 | 1 |
| Muggy (%) | 13 | 8 | 30 | 60 | 53 | 23 | 10 | 9 | 24 | 49 | 54 | 32 |
| Oppressive (%) | 76 | 77 | 65 | 29 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 34 | 62 |
| Miserable (%) | 12 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Dry (%) | Comfortable (%) | Humid (%) | Muggy (%) | Oppressive (%) | Miserable (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 76 | 12 |
| Feb | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 77 | 15 |
| Mar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 65 | 5 |
| Apr | 0 | 1 | 10 | 60 | 29 | 0 |
| May | 3 | 7 | 31 | 53 | 5 | 0 |
| Jun | 11 | 17 | 48 | 23 | 1 | 0 |
| Jul | 17 | 29 | 45 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug | 12 | 34 | 45 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep | 3 | 19 | 52 | 24 | 2 | 0 |
| Oct | 0 | 4 | 37 | 49 | 10 | 0 |
| Nov | 0 | 0 | 11 | 54 | 34 | 1 |
| Dec | 0 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 62 | 5 |
Wind
Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.
This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.
Across the year, average wind speed in Cairns is typically calm, near 11 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.
The windier part of the year lasts 5.6 months, from around Mar 13 to Aug 28. The windiest month is April, averaging about 13 km/h (light breeze).
The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 29 to Mar 12, with February the calmest month at about 9 km/h.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wind speed (km/h) | 9 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 |
| Feels | calm | calm | calm | light breeze | light breeze | light breeze | light breeze | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm |
| Wind speed (km/h) | Feels | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 9 | calm |
| Feb | 9 | calm |
| Mar | 11 | calm |
| Apr | 13 | light breeze |
| May | 13 | light breeze |
| Jun | 13 | light breeze |
| Jul | 13 | light breeze |
| Aug | 12 | calm |
| Sep | 11 | calm |
| Oct | 11 | calm |
| Nov | 10 | calm |
| Dec | 10 | calm |
Hazard calendar for Cairns
When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.
Cairns sits in the South Indian Ocean cyclone belt; the season peaks January–March.
Cairns's monsoon runs December–March, when most of the year's rain falls.
Best time to visit Cairns
To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Cairns throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.
Around early May, Cairns is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.
Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.
The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Cairns for general outdoor tourist activities is from late April to mid November, with a peak score in the third week of September.
The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travel score (0–10) | 4.2 | 4.1 | 5.1 | 6.3 | 7.1 | 7.3 | 7.5 | 7.8 | 8.2 | 7.6 | 6.6 | 5.2 |
| Rating | fair | fair | fair | good | good | good | ideal | ideal | ideal | ideal | good | fair |
| Travel score (0–10) | Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 4.2 | fair |
| Feb | 4.1 | fair |
| Mar | 5.1 | fair |
| Apr | 6.3 | good |
| May | 7.1 | good |
| Jun | 7.3 | good |
| Jul | 7.5 | ideal |
| Aug | 7.8 | ideal |
| Sep | 8.2 | ideal |
| Oct | 7.6 | ideal |
| Nov | 6.6 | good |
| Dec | 5.2 | fair |
The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Cairns for hot-weather activities run from late March to early June and again from late August to late December, with a peak score in the last week of October.
The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).
What to pack for Cairns, by month
Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.
For a warm-season trip around January (highs near 28°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 22°C), pack light clothes.
In January, Cairns sees daytime highs around 28°C and nights near 23°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 21 days see rain.
Sea temperature near Cairns
Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.
The sea at the nearest coast (about 13 km away) is warmest in February at about 29°C and coldest in July near 24°C.
The water stays above 20°C all year — warm enough for a swim any month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea temperature (°C) | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 29 |
| Comfort | Tropical | Tropical | Tropical | Warm | Warm | Warm | Refreshing | Refreshing | Warm | Warm | Warm | Tropical |
| Sea temperature (°C) | Comfort | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29 | Tropical |
| Feb | 29 | Tropical |
| Mar | 28 | Tropical |
| Apr | 27 | Warm |
| May | 26 | Warm |
| Jun | 24 | Warm |
| Jul | 24 | Refreshing |
| Aug | 24 | Refreshing |
| Sep | 25 | Warm |
| Oct | 26 | Warm |
| Nov | 27 | Warm |
| Dec | 29 | Tropical |
UV index (midday) in Cairns by month
Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.
Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Cairns peaks around February 11 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 21 at about 8 (very high).
The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UV index (midday) | 16 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 |
| Level | Extreme | Extreme | Extreme | Extreme | Very high | Very high | Very high | Very high | Extreme | Extreme | Extreme | Extreme |
| UV index (midday) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 16 | Extreme |
| Feb | 16 | Extreme |
| Mar | 14 | Extreme |
| Apr | 12 | Extreme |
| May | 9 | Very high |
| Jun | 8 | Very high |
| Jul | 8 | Very high |
| Aug | 10 | Very high |
| Sep | 13 | Extreme |
| Oct | 13 | Extreme |
| Nov | 13 | Extreme |
| Dec | 14 | Extreme |
Average hourly UV index in Cairns
Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.
The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.
UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in February the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 9 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 7 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UV ≥ 3 (h/day) | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7.5 | 7 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 7 | 8 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 |
| UV ≥ 6 (h/day) | 7 | 7 | 6.5 | 5.5 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 5 | 6 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 7 |
| UV ≥ 3 (h/day) | UV ≥ 6 (h/day) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 9 | 7 |
| Feb | 9 | 7 |
| Mar | 8 | 6.5 |
| Apr | 7.5 | 5.5 |
| May | 7 | 4.5 |
| Jun | 6.5 | 3.5 |
| Jul | 6.5 | 3.5 |
| Aug | 7 | 5 |
| Sep | 8 | 6 |
| Oct | 8.5 | 6.5 |
| Nov | 8.5 | 6.5 |
| Dec | 8.5 | 7 |
Growing season
Cairns is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frost-free chance (%) | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Frost nights | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Frost-free chance (%) | Frost nights | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 100 | 0 |
| Feb | 100 | 0 |
| Mar | 100 | 0 |
| Apr | 100 | 0 |
| May | 100 | 0 |
| Jun | 100 | 0 |
| Jul | 100 | 0 |
| Aug | 100 | 0 |
| Sep | 100 | 0 |
| Oct | 100 | 0 |
| Nov | 100 | 0 |
| Dec | 100 | 0 |
Growing degree days
Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Cairns banks about 4,739 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around February.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Growing degree days (°C·days) | 493 | 447 | 468 | 410 | 368 | 307 | 291 | 304 | 339 | 399 | 432 | 481 |
| Growing degree days (°C·days) | |
|---|---|
| Jan | 493 |
| Feb | 447 |
| Mar | 468 |
| Apr | 410 |
| May | 368 |
| Jun | 307 |
| Jul | 291 |
| Aug | 304 |
| Sep | 339 |
| Oct | 399 |
| Nov | 432 |
| Dec | 481 |
Solar energy
Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.
Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.
Cairns receives about 5.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.8 and 6.8 kWh/m².
The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.8 months, from around Sep 1 to Feb 24. The brightest month is November, averaging about 6.7 kWh/m² (intense).
The dimmest month is June, down near 3.8 kWh/m² — roughly 43% less than the November peak.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar energy (kWh/m²) | 6.0 | 5.5 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 6.0 | 6.6 | 6.7 | 6.3 |
| Level | Bright | Bright | Bright | Bright | Bright | Moderate | Bright | Bright | Intense | Intense | Intense | Intense |
| Solar energy (kWh/m²) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 6.0 | Bright |
| Feb | 5.5 | Bright |
| Mar | 5.2 | Bright |
| Apr | 4.9 | Bright |
| May | 4.2 | Bright |
| Jun | 3.8 | Moderate |
| Jul | 4.0 | Bright |
| Aug | 4.8 | Bright |
| Sep | 6.0 | Intense |
| Oct | 6.6 | Intense |
| Nov | 6.7 | Intense |
| Dec | 6.3 | Intense |
Where is Cairns?
Cairns sits at 16.9°S, 145.8°E, 7 m above sea level, in Australia. The nearest listed city is Port Douglas, 58 km away.
What Cairns looks like
Topography around Cairns
How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Cairns.
Within 3 km, the terrain around Cairns has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 39 m around an average of 5 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,180 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,561 m.
The land around Cairns is covered by artificial surfaces (44%) and water (24%) within 3 km, trees (50%) and water (26%) within 16 km, and water (43%) and trees (40%) within 80 km.
Australia travel facts
- Travel advisory
- Level 1
- Exercise Normal Precautions
- Power plugs
- Type I
- 230 V · 50 Hz
- Prices
- ≈ 90% of US
- price level, 2025
- GDP per capita
- $65,130
- 2025
- Happiness
- 6.9 / 10
- World Happiness, 2025
- Homicide rate
- 0.9
- per 100k, 2023
- Road deaths
- 4.9
- per 100k/yr, 2019
- Income group
- High
- World Bank
- Religion
Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.
Data sources
Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Cairns (-16.9237°, 145.7661°, elevation 7 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).