Canberra weather in August

In August, Canberra sees average daytime highs of 12°C and overnight lows near 2°C, with 49 mm of precipitation across 7.5 wet days and about 10.7 hours of daylight. It is the 10th-warmest and 7th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 11°C in the first days to 14°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 39% of the time in August, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 10 h 12 min at the start of August to 11 h 12 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, August is Canberra's 5th-clearest and 1st-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Canberra's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 12°; 10th warmest
Overnight low: 2°; 2nd coldest
Precipitation: 49 mm; 7.5 wet days
Daylight: 10 h 42 min; 7:48 AM – 6:27 PM
Cloud cover: 50%; 5th clearest
Wind: 12 km/h; 1st windiest
Solar energy: 3.44 kWh/m²
Travel score: 3.6; out of 10

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.

← July Canberra year-round climate September →Best places to visit in August

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

Temperature in August

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs climb over the month, from about 11°C in the first days to 14°C by the end.

A typical August day in Canberra reaches about 12°C in the afternoon and slips back to 2°C overnight — a 11°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 9°C and 16°C. Set against its neighbours, August runs about 2°C warmer than July and about 3°C cooler than September.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	14
Avg low (°C)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	11	1
2	11	1
3	11	1
4	11	1
5	11	1
6	12	1
7	12	1
8	12	1
9	12	1
10	12	1
11	12	2
12	12	2
13	12	2
14	12	2
15	12	2
16	12	2
17	12	2
18	12	2
19	12	2
20	13	2
21	13	2
22	13	2
23	13	2
24	13	2
25	13	2
26	13	2
27	13	2
28	14	3
29	14	3
30	14	3
31	14	3

How August really feels in Canberra

Once humidity and wind are folded in, August averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 31 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 0°C

wind chill below the day's low

The story in August is cold — wind chill drags the overnight "feels like" below the raw low.

Canberra weather by month

How August compares with the rest of the year at a glance. August is the 10th-warmest and 7th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

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

Cloud cover in August

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 39% of the time in August.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 19% of August, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 42%.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	59	59	59	59	60	60	60	60	59	60	60	60	59	59	58	58	58	58	57	57	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56
Cloudier (%)	41	41	41	41	40	40	40	40	41	40	40	40	41	41	42	42	42	42	43	43	44	44	44	44	44	44	44	44	44	44	44

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	59	41
2	59	41
3	59	41
4	59	41
5	60	40
6	60	40
7	60	40
8	60	40
9	59	41
10	60	40
11	60	40
12	60	40
13	59	41
14	59	41
15	58	42
16	58	42
17	58	42
18	58	42
19	57	43
20	57	43
21	56	44
22	56	44
23	56	44
24	56	44
25	56	44
26	56	44
27	56	44
28	56	44
29	56	44
30	56	44
31	56	44

Chance of precipitation in August

Any precipitation

Canberra gets around 49 mm of rain and snow over 7.5 wet days in August. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable precipitation averages around 24% and peaks near 25% on the wettest days, and about 0 day brings snow.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	24	24	24	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24

	Rain chance (%)
1	23
2	23
3	23
4	23
5	23
6	23
7	23
8	24
9	24
10	24
11	25
12	25
13	25
14	25
15	25
16	25
17	25
18	25
19	25
20	25
21	25
22	25
23	25
24	24
25	24
26	24
27	24
28	24
29	24
30	24
31	24

Humidity in August

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of August feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, August lands in the dry band about 100% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

Wind in August

Winds average 12 km/h in August, the windiest month of the year.

Across August, daily wind ranges from about 11 km/h on the calmest days to 12 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	11
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	11	calm
2	11	calm
3	12	calm
4	12	calm
5	12	calm
6	12	calm
7	12	calm
8	12	light breeze
9	12	light breeze
10	12	light breeze
11	12	light breeze
12	12	light breeze
13	12	light breeze
14	12	light breeze
15	12	light breeze
16	12	light breeze
17	12	light breeze
18	12	light breeze
19	12	calm
20	12	calm
21	12	calm
22	12	calm
23	12	calm
24	12	calm
25	11	calm
26	11	calm
27	11	calm
28	11	calm
29	11	calm
30	11	calm
31	11	calm

Sunrise & sunset in August

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 h 12 min at the start of August to 11 h 12 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 60 minutes over August. Sunrise moves from 8:03 AM to 7:28 AM, and sunset from 6:16 PM to 6:39 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	10.2	10.2	10.3	10.3	10.3	10.3	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.8	10.8	10.8	10.9	10.9	10.9	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.1	11.1	11.1	11.2
Sunrise (AM)	8:03	8:03	8:02	8:01	8:00	7:59	7:58	7:57	7:56	7:55	7:54	7:52	7:51	7:50	7:49	7:48	7:47	7:45	7:44	7:43	7:42	7:40	7:39	7:38	7:36	7:35	7:34	7:32	7:31	7:29	7:28
Sunset (PM)	6:16	6:16	6:17	6:18	6:19	6:20	6:20	6:21	6:22	6:23	6:23	6:24	6:25	6:26	6:27	6:27	6:28	6:29	6:30	6:31	6:31	6:32	6:33	6:34	6:34	6:35	6:36	6:37	6:37	6:38	6:39

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.2	8:03	6:16
2	10.2	8:03	6:16
3	10.3	8:02	6:17
4	10.3	8:01	6:18
5	10.3	8:00	6:19
6	10.3	7:59	6:20
7	10.4	7:58	6:20
8	10.4	7:57	6:21
9	10.4	7:56	6:22
10	10.5	7:55	6:23
11	10.5	7:54	6:23
12	10.5	7:52	6:24
13	10.6	7:51	6:25
14	10.6	7:50	6:26
15	10.6	7:49	6:27
16	10.7	7:48	6:27
17	10.7	7:47	6:28
18	10.7	7:45	6:29
19	10.8	7:44	6:30
20	10.8	7:43	6:31
21	10.8	7:42	6:31
22	10.9	7:40	6:32
23	10.9	7:39	6:33
24	10.9	7:38	6:34
25	11.0	7:36	6:34
26	11.0	7:35	6:35
27	11.0	7:34	6:36
28	11.1	7:32	6:37
29	11.1	7:31	6:37
30	11.1	7:29	6:38
31	11.2	7:28	6:39

Solar energy in August

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in August, about 3.44 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 2.17 kWh/m² to a high of 7.23 kWh/m² in January across the year — August's 3.44 kWh/m² falls in the middle.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.3	3.3	3.3	3.3	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.7	3.7	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.9	3.9	3.9
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	3.0	Moderate
2	3.0	Moderate
3	3.0	Moderate
4	3.1	Moderate
5	3.1	Moderate
6	3.1	Moderate
7	3.2	Moderate
8	3.2	Moderate
9	3.2	Moderate
10	3.3	Moderate
11	3.3	Moderate
12	3.3	Moderate
13	3.3	Moderate
14	3.4	Moderate
15	3.4	Moderate
16	3.4	Moderate
17	3.5	Moderate
18	3.5	Moderate
19	3.5	Moderate
20	3.5	Moderate
21	3.6	Moderate
22	3.6	Moderate
23	3.6	Moderate
24	3.7	Moderate
25	3.7	Moderate
26	3.8	Moderate
27	3.8	Moderate
28	3.8	Moderate
29	3.9	Moderate
30	3.9	Moderate
31	3.9	Moderate

Planning a trip in August

Hazard calendar for Canberra

In seasonPeak

None of Canberra's seasonal hazards are active in August. The full-year calendar below shows when the rainy season, cyclone risk and dust haze do peak.

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

Cyclone

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is August a good time to visit Canberra?

Our two travel scores rate August for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

3.6

Sightseeing

10th-best month of the year

0.0

Beach & pool

10th-best month of the year

August is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Canberra.

What to pack for Canberra in August

From August's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In August, Canberra sees daytime highs around 12°C and nights near 2°C. Worth packing: a warm layer. About 8 days see rain.

a warm layer

UV index in Canberra in August

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in August peaks around 4 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

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

Air quality in Canberra in August

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where August falls, not just the annual 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

Location & terrain

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.

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.

3 km

282 m

trees 48%

16 km

489 m

grassland 45%

80 km

1,796 m

trees 51%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater

← July Canberra year-round climate September →Best places to visit in August

August weather nearby: Tuggeranong 16 km · Goulburn 80 km · Batemans Bay 106 km · Wollongong city centre 187 km · Wollongong 187 km · Katoomba 205 km · Blue Mountains 206 km · Bathurst 212 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).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	11	1
2	11	1
3	11	1
4	11	1
5	11	1
6	12	1
7	12	1
8	12	1
9	12	1
10	12	1
11	12	2
12	12	2
13	12	2
14	12	2
15	12	2
16	12	2
17	12	2
18	12	2
19	12	2
20	13	2
21	13	2
22	13	2
23	13	2
24	13	2
25	13	2
26	13	2
27	13	2
28	14	3
29	14	3
30	14	3
31	14	3

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	59	41
2	59	41
3	59	41
4	59	41
5	60	40
6	60	40
7	60	40
8	60	40
9	59	41
10	60	40
11	60	40
12	60	40
13	59	41
14	59	41
15	58	42
16	58	42
17	58	42
18	58	42
19	57	43
20	57	43
21	56	44
22	56	44
23	56	44
24	56	44
25	56	44
26	56	44
27	56	44
28	56	44
29	56	44
30	56	44
31	56	44

	Rain chance (%)
1	23
2	23
3	23
4	23
5	23
6	23
7	23
8	24
9	24
10	24
11	25
12	25
13	25
14	25
15	25
16	25
17	25
18	25
19	25
20	25
21	25
22	25
23	25
24	24
25	24
26	24
27	24
28	24
29	24
30	24
31	24

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	11	1
2	11	1
3	11	1
4	11	1
5	11	1
6	12	1
7	12	1
8	12	1
9	12	1
10	12	1
11	12	2
12	12	2
13	12	2
14	12	2
15	12	2
16	12	2
17	12	2
18	12	2
19	12	2
20	13	2
21	13	2
22	13	2
23	13	2
24	13	2
25	13	2
26	13	2
27	13	2
28	14	3
29	14	3
30	14	3
31	14	3

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	59	41
2	59	41
3	59	41
4	59	41
5	60	40
6	60	40
7	60	40
8	60	40
9	59	41
10	60	40
11	60	40
12	60	40
13	59	41
14	59	41
15	58	42
16	58	42
17	58	42
18	58	42
19	57	43
20	57	43
21	56	44
22	56	44
23	56	44
24	56	44
25	56	44
26	56	44
27	56	44
28	56	44
29	56	44
30	56	44
31	56	44

	Rain chance (%)
1	23
2	23
3	23
4	23
5	23
6	23
7	23
8	24
9	24
10	24
11	25
12	25
13	25
14	25
15	25
16	25
17	25
18	25
19	25
20	25
21	25
22	25
23	25
24	24
25	24
26	24
27	24
28	24
29	24
30	24
31	24

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	11	1
2	11	1
3	11	1
4	11	1
5	11	1
6	12	1
7	12	1
8	12	1
9	12	1
10	12	1
11	12	2
12	12	2
13	12	2
14	12	2
15	12	2
16	12	2
17	12	2
18	12	2
19	12	2
20	13	2
21	13	2
22	13	2
23	13	2
24	13	2
25	13	2
26	13	2
27	13	2
28	14	3
29	14	3
30	14	3
31	14	3

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	59	41
2	59	41
3	59	41
4	59	41
5	60	40
6	60	40
7	60	40
8	60	40
9	59	41
10	60	40
11	60	40
12	60	40
13	59	41
14	59	41
15	58	42
16	58	42
17	58	42
18	58	42
19	57	43
20	57	43
21	56	44
22	56	44
23	56	44
24	56	44
25	56	44
26	56	44
27	56	44
28	56	44
29	56	44
30	56	44
31	56	44

	Rain chance (%)
1	23
2	23
3	23
4	23
5	23
6	23
7	23
8	24
9	24
10	24
11	25
12	25
13	25
14	25
15	25
16	25
17	25
18	25
19	25
20	25
21	25
22	25
23	25
24	24
25	24
26	24
27	24
28	24
29	24
30	24
31	24

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100