Climate and average weather in Canberra
In Canberra, the summers are warm, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are cool and partly cloudy.
Over the course of the year, the temperature in Canberra typically varies from 1°C to 27°C, and is rarely below -3°C or above 33°C. January is the hottest month of the year, while July is the coldest.
Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Canberra for warm-weather activities are from early January to early May and early October to late December.
- Hottest
- Jan
- 27°
- Coldest
- Jul
- 1°
- Wettest
- Nov
- 58 mm
- Driest
- Apr
- 27 mm
- Rain / yr
- 551 mm
- 77 wet days
- Daylight
- 9.6–14.4 h
- shortest–longest
- Elevation
- 571 m
- 35.3°S
- Clearest
- Jan
- 48% cloud
Canberra is capital city of Australia.
- Air quality
- Moderate
- PM2.5 13.9 µg/m³ · 2019
- Density
- 779/km²
- people per km²
- Founded
- 1913
Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.
Canberra 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 early January to early May.
Temperature through the year
Daily average highs and lows in Canberra, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.
The hot season lasts 3.7 months, from November 25 to March 17, with daily high temperatures above 23°C. The hottest month of the year in Canberra is January, with an average high of 27°C and low of 14°C.
The cool season lasts 3.3 months, from May 25 to September 1, with daily high temperatures below 14°C. The coldest month of the year in Canberra is July, with an average low of 1°C and high of 11°C.
Days typically run about 11°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 13°C) in January.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high (°C) | 27 | 26 | 23 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 25 |
| Avg low (°C) | 14 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 12 |
| Avg high (°C) | Avg low (°C) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27 | 14 |
| Feb | 26 | 14 |
| Mar | 23 | 11 |
| Apr | 19 | 8 |
| May | 15 | 4 |
| Jun | 12 | 2 |
| Jul | 11 | 1 |
| Aug | 12 | 2 |
| Sep | 16 | 4 |
| Oct | 19 | 7 |
| Nov | 22 | 9 |
| Dec | 25 | 12 |
How hot and cold Canberra 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 coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -2°C (around August 3), with roughly 86 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in August.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feels-like high (°C) | 27 | 26 | 23 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 22 | 25 |
| Air high (°C) | 27 | 26 | 23 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 25 |
| Feels-like low (°C) | 14 | 14 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 0 | -2 | -2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| Air low (°C) | 14 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 12 |
| Feels-like high (°C) | Air high (°C) | Feels-like low (°C) | Air low (°C) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27 | 27 | 14 | 14 |
| Feb | 26 | 26 | 14 | 14 |
| Mar | 23 | 23 | 11 | 11 |
| Apr | 19 | 19 | 6 | 8 |
| May | 15 | 15 | 2 | 4 |
| Jun | 12 | 12 | 0 | 2 |
| Jul | 11 | 11 | -2 | 1 |
| Aug | 12 | 12 | -2 | 2 |
| Sep | 15 | 16 | 1 | 4 |
| Oct | 19 | 19 | 4 | 7 |
| Nov | 22 | 22 | 8 | 9 |
| Dec | 25 | 25 | 12 | 12 |
Average hourly temperature in Canberra
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 27°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 1°C.
Canberra 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 | 27° / 14° | 49 | 6.6 | 14.1 | 7.2 |
| Feb | 26° / 14° | 51 | 6 | 13.3 | 7.4 |
| Mar | 23° / 11° | 38 | 5.3 | 12.3 | 7.8 |
| Apr | 19° / 8° | 27 | 4 | 11.1 | 7.1 |
| May | 15° / 4° | 28 | 4.3 | 10.2 | 5.3 |
| Jun | 12° / 2° | 51 | 6.8 | 9.7 | 3.3 |
| Jul | 11° / 1° | 38 | 6.7 | 9.9 | 2.9 |
| Aug | 12° / 2° | 49 | 7.5 | 10.7 | 3.6 |
| Sep | 16° / 4° | 51 | 7.4 | 11.8 | 5.2 |
| Oct | 19° / 7° | 56 | 7.3 | 12.9 | 6.6 |
| Nov | 22° / 9° | 58 | 8.4 | 13.9 | 7.0 |
| Dec | 25° / 12° | 56 | 6.9 | 14.3 | 7.5 |
Chance of rain
How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.
Canberra gets about 551 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.
The wetter season lasts 6.5 months, from around Jun 8 to Dec 23, peaking in November at about 28% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Apr 11.
November is the wettest month by volume, with 58 mm over about 8 wet days; April is the driest, with 27 mm.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rain on a day (%) | 21 | 21 | 17 | 13 | 15 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 25 | 24 | 27 | 23 |
| Rain days | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| Rain on a day (%) | Rain days | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 21 | 7 |
| Feb | 21 | 6 |
| Mar | 17 | 5 |
| Apr | 13 | 4 |
| May | 15 | 4 |
| Jun | 22 | 7 |
| Jul | 22 | 7 |
| Aug | 24 | 8 |
| Sep | 25 | 7 |
| Oct | 24 | 7 |
| Nov | 27 | 8 |
| Dec | 23 | 7 |
Monthly rainfall
Over a full year, Canberra collects about 551 mm of rain across 77 wet days — roughly 46 mm in an average month.
It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 58 mm, while April is the driest at just 27 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 31% of the year’s total.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainfall (mm) | 49 | 51 | 38 | 27 | 28 | 51 | 38 | 49 | 51 | 56 | 58 | 56 |
| Rain days | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| Rainfall (mm) | Rain days | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49 | 7 |
| Feb | 51 | 6 |
| Mar | 38 | 5 |
| Apr | 27 | 4 |
| May | 28 | 4 |
| Jun | 51 | 7 |
| Jul | 38 | 7 |
| Aug | 49 | 8 |
| Sep | 51 | 7 |
| Oct | 56 | 7 |
| Nov | 58 | 8 |
| Dec | 56 | 7 |
Clouds and sunshine
How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.
In Canberra, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows moderate seasonal variation over the course of the year.
The clearer part of the year begins around September 8 and lasts for 1.5 months, ending around October 22. The clearest month is April, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 61% of the time on average.
The cloudier part of the year begins around May 22 and lasts for 2.0 months, ending around July 20. The cloudiest month is June, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 52% of the time.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clearer (%) | 61 | 59 | 61 | 61 | 59 | 48 | 55 | 58 | 61 | 60 | 54 | 58 |
| Cloudier (%) | 39 | 41 | 39 | 39 | 41 | 52 | 45 | 42 | 39 | 40 | 46 | 42 |
| Clearer (%) | Cloudier (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 61 | 39 |
| Feb | 59 | 41 |
| Mar | 61 | 39 |
| Apr | 61 | 39 |
| May | 59 | 41 |
| Jun | 48 | 52 |
| Jul | 55 | 45 |
| Aug | 58 | 42 |
| Sep | 61 | 39 |
| Oct | 60 | 40 |
| Nov | 54 | 46 |
| Dec | 58 | 42 |
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 December 14, brings about 14 h 24 min of light; the shortest, around June 14, only 9 h 36 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 48 min.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 14.1 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.1 | 10.2 | 9.7 | 9.9 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 12.9 | 13.9 | 14.3 |
| Sunrise (AM) | 6:09 | 6:38 | 7:05 | 7:30 | 7:55 | 8:15 | 8:14 | 7:48 | 7:04 | 6:21 | 5:52 | 5:49 |
| Sunset (PM) | 8:17 | 7:58 | 7:21 | 6:37 | 6:04 | 5:53 | 6:04 | 6:27 | 6:51 | 7:16 | 7:45 | 8:11 |
| Daylight (h) | Sunrise (AM) | Sunset (PM) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 14.1 | 6:09 | 8:17 |
| Feb | 13.3 | 6:38 | 7:58 |
| Mar | 12.3 | 7:05 | 7:21 |
| Apr | 11.1 | 7:30 | 6:37 |
| May | 10.2 | 7:55 | 6:04 |
| Jun | 9.7 | 8:15 | 5:53 |
| Jul | 9.9 | 8:14 | 6:04 |
| Aug | 10.7 | 7:48 | 6:27 |
| Sep | 11.8 | 7:04 | 6:51 |
| Oct | 12.9 | 6:21 | 7:16 |
| Nov | 13.9 | 5:52 | 7:45 |
| Dec | 14.3 | 5:49 | 8:11 |
Sunny days
How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.
Canberra averages about 12 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 9 and 14 days.
The sunnier stretch runs 5.2 months, from around Dec 18 to May 23. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 14 sunny days (mixed).
The greyest month is June, down near 10 sunny days — about 30% fewer than the January peak.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunny days | 14 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 12 |
| Sky | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed |
| Sunny days | Sky | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 14 | Mixed |
| Feb | 11 | Mixed |
| Mar | 13 | Mixed |
| Apr | 13 | Mixed |
| May | 13 | Mixed |
| Jun | 9 | Mixed |
| Jul | 11 | Mixed |
| Aug | 12 | Mixed |
| Sep | 12 | Mixed |
| Oct | 12 | Mixed |
| Nov | 10 | Mixed |
| Dec | 12 | 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 Canberra, how humid it feels changes noticeably over the year.
The more humid part of the year lasts 3.6 months, from around December 3 to March 23. The muggiest month is February, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 15% of the time.
The most comfortable stretch runs from around March 24 to December 2, and April is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry (%) | 55 | 52 | 75 | 95 | 99 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 97 | 87 | 76 |
| Comfortable (%) | 31 | 32 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 19 |
| Humid (%) | 13 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Muggy (%) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dry (%) | Comfortable (%) | Humid (%) | Muggy (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 55 | 31 | 13 | 1 |
| Feb | 52 | 32 | 14 | 1 |
| Mar | 75 | 20 | 5 | 0 |
| Apr | 95 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| May | 99 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct | 97 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov | 87 | 11 | 2 | 0 |
| Dec | 76 | 19 | 5 | 0 |
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 Canberra is steady company: average speeds sit near 11 km/h — calm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wind speed (km/h) | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Feels | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm |
| Wind speed (km/h) | Feels | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 11 | calm |
| Feb | 11 | calm |
| Mar | 10 | calm |
| Apr | 9 | calm |
| May | 9 | calm |
| Jun | 10 | calm |
| Jul | 11 | calm |
| Aug | 12 | calm |
| Sep | 12 | calm |
| Oct | 11 | calm |
| Nov | 11 | calm |
| Dec | 11 | calm |
Hazard calendar for Canberra
When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.
Canberra sits in the South Indian Ocean cyclone belt; the season peaks January–March.
Best time to visit Canberra
To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Canberra throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.
Around mid January, Canberra 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 Canberra for general outdoor tourist activities is from early October to early May, with a peak score in the second week of March.
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) | 7.2 | 7.4 | 7.7 | 7.1 | 5.3 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 3.6 | 5.2 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 7.5 |
| Rating | good | good | ideal | good | fair | poor | poor | fair | fair | good | good | good |
| Travel score (0–10) | Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7.2 | good |
| Feb | 7.4 | good |
| Mar | 7.7 | ideal |
| Apr | 7.1 | good |
| May | 5.3 | fair |
| Jun | 3.3 | poor |
| Jul | 2.9 | poor |
| Aug | 3.6 | fair |
| Sep | 5.2 | fair |
| Oct | 6.5 | good |
| Nov | 7.0 | good |
| Dec | 7.5 | good |
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 Canberra for hot-weather activities is from late November to late March, with a peak score in the second week of January.
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 Canberra, 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 27°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 11°C), pack a warm layer.
In January, Canberra sees daytime highs around 27°C and nights near 14°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes. About 7 days see rain.
UV index (midday) in Canberra 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 Canberra peaks around December 23 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 19 at about 2 (moderate).
The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UV index (midday) | 13 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 13 |
| Level | Extreme | Extreme | Very high | High | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Very high | Extreme | Extreme |
| UV index (midday) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 13 | Extreme |
| Feb | 12 | Extreme |
| Mar | 9 | Very high |
| Apr | 6 | High |
| May | 3 | Moderate |
| Jun | 2 | Moderate |
| Jul | 3 | Moderate |
| Aug | 4 | Moderate |
| Sep | 5 | Moderate |
| Oct | 9 | Very high |
| Nov | 10 | Extreme |
| Dec | 13 | Extreme |
Average hourly UV index in Canberra
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 December the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 9.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 7 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UV ≥ 3 (h/day) | 9 | 8.5 | 7.5 | 5.5 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 | 5 | 7.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 |
| UV ≥ 6 (h/day) | 7 | 6.5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 | 6 | 7 |
| UV ≥ 3 (h/day) | UV ≥ 6 (h/day) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 9 | 7 |
| Feb | 8.5 | 6.5 |
| Mar | 7.5 | 5 |
| Apr | 5.5 | 0 |
| May | 2.5 | 0 |
| Jun | 0 | 0 |
| Jul | 0 | 0 |
| Aug | 3.5 | 0 |
| Sep | 5 | 0 |
| Oct | 7.5 | 4.5 |
| Nov | 8.5 | 6 |
| Dec | 9.5 | 7 |
Air quality in Canberra by month
Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.
Air quality in Canberra is worst in December — around 36 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 7.2× the cleanest month (July, 5 µg/m³).
Seasonal pattern from CAMS reanalysis, scaled to Canberra's WHO annual average of 13.9 µg/m³.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 33 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 36 |
| Level | Moderate | Moderate | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Moderate | Poor |
| PM2.5 (µg/m³) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 33 | Moderate |
| Feb | 16 | Moderate |
| Mar | 10 | Good |
| Apr | 12 | Good |
| May | 9 | Good |
| Jun | 6 | Good |
| Jul | 5 | Good |
| Aug | 7 | Good |
| Sep | 8 | Good |
| Oct | 9 | Good |
| Nov | 17 | Moderate |
| Dec | 36 | Poor |
Growing season
Canberra is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about September 23 to May 10 (230 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frost-free chance (%) | 100 | 100 | 100 | 99 | 88 | 76 | 66 | 71 | 88 | 97 | 100 | 100 |
| Frost nights | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Frost-free chance (%) | Frost nights | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 100 | 0 |
| Feb | 100 | 0 |
| Mar | 100 | 0 |
| Apr | 99 | 0 |
| May | 88 | 21 |
| Jun | 76 | 30 |
| Jul | 66 | 31 |
| Aug | 71 | 31 |
| Sep | 88 | 20 |
| Oct | 97 | 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. Canberra banks about 1,440 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around January.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Growing degree days (°C·days) | 321 | 271 | 224 | 103 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 82 | 168 | 257 |
| Growing degree days (°C·days) | |
|---|---|
| Jan | 321 |
| Feb | 271 |
| Mar | 224 |
| Apr | 103 |
| May | 8 |
| Jun | 0 |
| Jul | 0 |
| Aug | 0 |
| Sep | 7 |
| Oct | 82 |
| Nov | 168 |
| Dec | 257 |
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.
Canberra receives about 4.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.2 and 7.6 kWh/m².
The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Sep 18 to Mar 23. The brightest month is December, averaging about 7.3 kWh/m² (intense).
The dimmest month is June, down near 2.2 kWh/m² — roughly 69% less than the December peak.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar energy (kWh/m²) | 7.2 | 6.1 | 5.1 | 3.9 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 3.4 | 4.7 | 5.9 | 6.7 | 7.2 |
| Level | Intense | Intense | Bright | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Bright | Bright | Intense | Intense |
| Solar energy (kWh/m²) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7.2 | Intense |
| Feb | 6.1 | Intense |
| Mar | 5.1 | Bright |
| Apr | 3.9 | Moderate |
| May | 2.9 | Moderate |
| Jun | 2.2 | Moderate |
| Jul | 2.5 | Moderate |
| Aug | 3.4 | Moderate |
| Sep | 4.7 | Bright |
| Oct | 5.9 | Bright |
| Nov | 6.7 | Intense |
| Dec | 7.2 | Intense |
Where is Canberra?
Canberra sits at 35.3°S, 149.1°E, 571 m above sea level, in Australia. The nearest listed city is Tuggeranong, 16 km away.
What Canberra looks like
Topography around Canberra
How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Canberra.
Within 3 km, the terrain around Canberra has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 282 m around an average of 589 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 489 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,796 m.
The land around Canberra is covered by trees (48%) and artificial surfaces (24%) within 3 km, grassland (45%) and trees (36%) within 16 km, and trees (51%) and grassland (47%) 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 Canberra (-35.2835°, 149.1281°, elevation 571 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). UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).