Climate and average weather in Caloundra

In Caloundra, the summers are humid, hot, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are mild and mostly clear.

Best: mid April to late November

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Caloundra typically varies from 10°C to 28°C, and is rarely below 6°C or above 32°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 Caloundra for warm-weather activities is from mid April to late November.

Hottest
Jan
28°
Coldest
Jul
10°
Wettest
Feb
150 mm
Driest
Jul
34 mm
Rain / yr
999 mm
126 wet days
Daylight
10.3–13.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
8 m
26.8°S
Clearest
Aug
31% cloud

Caloundra is suburb of Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Caloundra 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 mid April to late November.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Caloundra, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 4.6 months, from November 9 to March 27, with daily high temperatures above 26°C. The hottest month of the year in Caloundra is January, with an average high of 28°C and low of 21°C.

The cool season lasts 2.8 months, from May 25 to August 16, with daily high temperatures below 22°C. The coldest month of the year in Caloundra is July, with an average low of 10°C and high of 20°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 12°C) in August.

10°15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2821
Feb2821
Mar2720
Apr2517
May2314
Jun2111
Jul2010
Aug2210
Sep2413
Oct2516
Nov2718
Dec2820

Average hourly temperature in Caloundra

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 10°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Caloundra weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan28° / 21°12514.813.55.2
Feb28° / 21°15015.212.95.2
Mar27° / 20°12216.112.25.8
Apr25° / 17°6912.711.46.6
May23° / 14°7710.210.77.0
Jun21° / 11°628.310.37.0
Jul20° / 10°345.810.57.5
Aug22° / 10°435.111.17.9
Sep24° / 13°396.711.87.9
Oct25° / 16°808.812.67.3
Nov27° / 18°8210.213.36.6
Dec28° / 20°1171213.76.0

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Caloundra gets about 999 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 5.8 months, from around Nov 11 to May 7, peaking in February at about 55% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 4.

February is the wettest month by volume, with 150 mm over about 15 wet days; July is the driest, with 34 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetFeb 5 · 55%Aug 4 · 13%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4715
Feb5415
Mar5216
Apr4313
May3310
Jun278
Jul196
Aug175
Sep227
Oct289
Nov3510
Dec3912

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Caloundra collects about 999 mm of rain across 126 wet days — roughly 83 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. February is the wettest month with 150 mm, while July is the driest at just 34 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 40% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150175JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1251501226977623443398082117
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan12515
Feb15015
Mar12216
Apr6913
May7710
Jun628
Jul346
Aug435
Sep397
Oct809
Nov8210
Dec11712

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Caloundra, 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 15 and lasts for 4.2 months, ending around October 19. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 84% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 20 and lasts for 5.2 months, ending around March 25. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 44% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAug 9 · 87%Jan 4 · 52%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5644
Feb5743
Mar6535
Apr7030
May6832
Jun6931
Jul7822
Aug8416
Sep8119
Oct7030
Nov6238
Dec5644

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

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 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around June 12, only 10 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 3 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan13.55:116:42
Feb12.95:346:30
Mar12.25:516:03
Apr11.46:075:29
May10.76:235:04
Jun10.36:384:58
Jul10.56:395:07
Aug11.16:205:23
Sep11.85:475:37
Oct12.65:135:52
Nov13.34:536:13
Dec13.74:536:34

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Caloundra averages about 14 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 9 and 22 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.3 months, from around May 8 to Oct 16. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 20 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is January, down near 9 sunny days — about 56% fewer than the August peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 822 daysJan 79 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan9Mixed
Feb8Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr13Mixed
May15Mixed
Jun15Bright
Jul19Bright
Aug20Bright
Sep19Bright
Oct15Mixed
Nov12Mixed
Dec11Mixed

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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 Caloundra, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around October 28 to April 30. The muggiest month is February, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 99% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around May 1 to October 27, and August is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 96% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAug 9 · 99%Feb 19 · 1%oppressivehumidcomfortablemuggydryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan032045311
Feb011648322
Mar133446160
Apr721482220
May333726400
Jun61309000
Jul79174000
Aug80174000
Sep513215100
Oct2136321000
Nov621422830
Dec283440170

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.

Wind in Caloundra is steady company: average speeds sit near 10 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeMar 7 · 12 km/hMay 26 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan11calm
Feb11calm
Mar11calm
Apr10calm
May9calm
Jun9calm
Jul10calm
Aug10calm
Sep10calm
Oct10calm
Nov10calm
Dec10calm

Hazard calendar for Caloundra

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Caloundra sits in the South Indian Ocean cyclone belt; the season peaks January–March.

Caloundra's rainy season runs October–May, when most of the year's rain falls.

Cyclone
Rainy season
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Caloundra

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Caloundra throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around mid November, Caloundra is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

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 Caloundra for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid April to late November, with a peak score in the second week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 8 · 8.1

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).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan5.2fair
Feb5.2fair
Mar5.8good
Apr6.6good
May7.0good
Jun7.0good
Jul7.5good
Aug7.9ideal
Sep7.9ideal
Oct7.3good
Nov6.6good
Dec6.0good

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Caloundra for hot-weather activities is from late August to early May, with a peak score in the last week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 25 · 7.0

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 Caloundra, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

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 20°C), pack a light layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In January, Caloundra sees daytime highs around 28°C and nights near 21°C. Pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 15 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Caloundra

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 20 km away) is warmest in February at about 27°C and coldest in August near 21°C.

The water stays above 20°C all year — warm enough for a swim any month.

20°22°24°26°28°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccoolrefreshingwarmcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan26Warm
Feb27Warm
Mar26Warm
Apr25Warm
May24Refreshing
Jun22Refreshing
Jul21Refreshing
Aug21Refreshing
Sep21Refreshing
Oct22Refreshing
Nov24Refreshing
Dec25Warm

UV index (midday) in Caloundra by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

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 Caloundra peaks around February 10 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 19 at about 4 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highHighModerateHighVery highExtremeFeb 10UV 14Jun 19UV 4
UV index (midday)Level
Jan13Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar11Extreme
Apr8Very high
May5High
Jun4Moderate
Jul5Moderate
Aug6High
Sep8Very high
Oct10Very high
Nov11Extreme
Dec13Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Caloundra

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

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 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 7 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan97
Feb8.57
Mar85.5
Apr6.54
May50
Jun40
Jul4.50
Aug5.51.5
Sep6.53.5
Oct7.55.5
Nov8.56
Dec97
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Caloundra is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

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. Caloundra banks about 3,763 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around January.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan460
Feb408
Mar411
Apr323
May249
Jun175
Jul159
Aug185
Sep254
Oct328
Nov375
Dec433

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.

Caloundra receives about 4.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.1 and 6.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Sep 7 to Mar 17. The brightest month is November, averaging about 6.3 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 3.2 kWh/m² — roughly 50% less than the November peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseNov 296.5 kWhJun 123.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.2Intense
Feb5.4Bright
Mar4.9Bright
Apr4.3Bright
May3.5Moderate
Jun3.1Moderate
Jul3.4Moderate
Aug4.3Bright
Sep5.3Bright
Oct5.8Bright
Nov6.3Intense
Dec6.4Intense

Where is Caloundra?

Caloundra sits at 26.8°S, 153.1°E, 8 m above sea level, in Australia. The nearest listed city is Buderim, 15 km away.

Topography around Caloundra

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Caloundra.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Caloundra has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 72 m around an average of 11 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 183 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 873 m.

The land around Caloundra is covered by artificial surfaces (36%), water (27%) and trees (26%) within 3 km, water (48%) and trees (31%) within 16 km, and water (41%) and trees (39%) within 80 km.

3 km
72 m
16 km
183 m
80 km
873 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetlandmangroves
Nearby: Buderim 15 km · Maroochydore 16 km · Sunshine Coast 17 km · Caboolture 36 km · Morayfield 38 km · Deception Bay 44 km · Noosa 46 km · Narangba 47 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
none 38%Roman Catholic 20%Protestant 18%other Christian 4%

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 Caloundra (-26.8035°, 153.1219°, elevation 8 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).