Climate and average weather in Cessnock

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

Best: mid July to late November

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Cessnock typically varies from 6°C to 30°C, and is rarely below 2°C or above 37°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 Cessnock for warm-weather activities are from early March to early June and mid July to late November.

Hottest
Jan
30°
Coldest
Jul
Wettest
Feb
82 mm
Driest
Aug
30 mm
Rain / yr
651 mm
94 wet days
Daylight
9.8–14.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
71 m
32.8°S
Clearest
Aug
35% cloud

Cessnock is city in New South Wales, Australia.

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

Cessnock 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 July to late November.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.9 months, from November 19 to March 16, with daily high temperatures above 27°C. The hottest month of the year in Cessnock is January, with an average high of 30°C and low of 18°C.

The cool season lasts 3.0 months, from May 24 to August 22, with daily high temperatures below 19°C. The coldest month of the year in Cessnock is July, with an average low of 6°C and high of 17°C.

Days typically run about 12°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 13°C) in September.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3018
Feb2918
Mar2716
Apr2412
May209
Jun178
Jul176
Aug197
Sep229
Oct2512
Nov2714
Dec2816

Average hourly temperature in Cessnock

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 30°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near C.

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

Cessnock 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
Jan30° / 18°6910.113.95.1
Feb29° / 18°829.913.25.6
Mar27° / 16°6710.312.26.6
Apr24° / 12°447.311.27.4
May20° / 396.710.37.1
Jun17° / 526.89.96.3
Jul17° / 345.410.16.4
Aug19° / 304.610.87.3
Sep22° / 365.911.87.7
Oct25° / 12°537.812.87.4
Nov27° / 14°739.513.76.6
Dec28° / 16°741014.15.8

Chance of rain

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

Cessnock gets about 651 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 5.8 months, from around Oct 15 to Apr 10, peaking in January at about 38% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 11.

February is the wettest month by volume, with 82 mm over about 10 wet days; August is the driest, with 30 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJan 27 · 38%Aug 11 · 14%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3310
Feb3610
Mar3310
Apr257
May227
Jun217
Jul185
Aug165
Sep206
Oct258
Nov3110
Dec3210

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Cessnock collects about 651 mm of rain across 94 wet days — roughly 54 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. February is the wettest month with 82 mm, while August is the driest at just 30 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 35% of the year’s total.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec698267443952343036537374
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan6910
Feb8210
Mar6710
Apr447
May397
Jun527
Jul345
Aug305
Sep366
Oct538
Nov7310
Dec7410

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Cessnock, 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 16 and lasts for 3.9 months, ending around October 12. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 77% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 13 and lasts for 5.6 months, ending around April 1. The cloudiest month is November, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 50% 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 · 80%Dec 8 · 48%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5149
Feb5248
Mar5743
Apr6238
May6337
Jun6238
Jul7129
Aug7723
Sep7129
Oct5941
Nov5050
Dec5050

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 December 16, brings about 14 h 12 min of light; the shortest, around June 16, only 9 h 48 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan13.96:068:02
Feb13.26:337:45
Mar12.26:577:12
Apr11.27:196:30
May10.37:416:00
Jun9.97:595:50
Jul10.17:596:01
Aug10.87:356:22
Sep11.86:556:43
Oct12.86:157:04
Nov13.75:487:31
Dec14.15:467:55

Sunny days

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

Cessnock averages about 13 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 9 and 20 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.8 months, from around Jun 16 to Oct 9. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 18 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is November, down near 10 sunny days — about 48% fewer than the August peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 920 daysNov 279 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan11Mixed
Feb9Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr12Mixed
May13Mixed
Jun13Mixed
Jul17Bright
Aug19Bright
Sep16Bright
Oct12Mixed
Nov9Mixed
Dec10Mixed

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.6 months, from around November 18 to April 5. The muggiest month is January, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 66% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around April 6 to November 17, and June is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 2 · 100%Jan 30 · 26%muggycomfortablehumiddryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan112335301
Feb72140293
Mar163238131
Apr50371210
May8414200
Jun955000
Jul991000
Aug991000
Sep927100
Oct7520500
Nov47321920
Dec253133110

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

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeAug 12 · 11 km/hApr 15 · 8 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan10calm
Feb10calm
Mar9calm
Apr8calm
May9calm
Jun10calm
Jul10calm
Aug10calm
Sep10calm
Oct10calm
Nov10calm
Dec10calm

Hazard calendar for Cessnock

In seasonPeak

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

Cessnock 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

Best time to visit Cessnock

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late July, Cessnock 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 times of year to visit Cessnock for general outdoor tourist activities run from early March to early June and again from mid July to late November, with a peak score in the last week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 26 · 8.0

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
Jan5.1fair
Feb5.6good
Mar6.6good
Apr7.4good
May7.1good
Jun6.3good
Jul6.5good
Aug7.3good
Sep7.7ideal
Oct7.4good
Nov6.6good
Dec5.8good

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 Cessnock for hot-weather activities is from mid September to late April, with a peak score in the first week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 3 · 7.2

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 Cessnock, 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 30°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 17°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In January, Cessnock sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 18°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 10 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Cessnock

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 41 km away) is warmest in February at about 23°C and coldest in August near 18°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Nov 16 to Jun 7 — about 6.7 months when the water holds above 20°C.

16°18°20°22°24°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccoolrefreshingwarmcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan23Refreshing
Feb23Refreshing
Mar23Refreshing
Apr22Refreshing
May21Refreshing
Jun20Cool
Jul19Cool
Aug18Cool
Sep18Cool
Oct19Cool
Nov20Refreshing
Dec21Refreshing

UV index (midday) in Cessnock 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 Cessnock peaks around January 17 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 19 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 11 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highHighModerateHighVery highExtremeJan 17UV 13Jun 19UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan13Extreme
Feb12Extreme
Mar9Very high
Apr6High
May4Moderate
Jun2Moderate
Jul3Moderate
Aug4Moderate
Sep6High
Oct8Very high
Nov10Very high
Dec12Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Cessnock

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 January 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan97
Feb8.56
Mar74.5
Apr5.51
May3.50
Jun00
Jul1.50
Aug40
Sep5.50
Oct7.54.5
Nov85.5
Dec96.5

Air quality in Cessnock by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

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 Cessnock is worst in December — around 23 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 4.3× the cleanest month (June, 5 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateDec 1621 µg/m³Jun 205 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan9Good
Feb7Good
Mar7Good
Apr6Good
May6Good
Jun5Good
Jul6Good
Aug7Good
Sep8Good
Oct8Good
Nov11Good
Dec23Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Cessnock 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
Jun990
Jul980
Aug980
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. Cessnock banks about 2,885 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around January.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan432
Feb372
Mar349
Apr242
May150
Jun74
Jul52
Aug89
Sep173
Oct255
Nov313
Dec386

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.

Cessnock receives about 4.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.5 and 6.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Sep 10 to Mar 18. The brightest month is January, averaging about 6.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 2.6 kWh/m² — roughly 60% less than the January peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseJan 16.8 kWhJun 132.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.5Intense
Feb5.5Bright
Mar4.7Bright
Apr3.9Moderate
May3.0Moderate
Jun2.5Moderate
Jul2.9Moderate
Aug3.8Moderate
Sep5.0Bright
Oct5.8Bright
Nov6.2Intense
Dec6.5Intense

Where is Cessnock?

Cessnock sits at 32.8°S, 151.4°E, 71 m above sea level, in Australia. The nearest listed city is Maitland, 22 km away.

Topography around Cessnock

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Cessnock has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 70 m around an average of 82 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 587 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,482 m.

The land around Cessnock is covered by trees (46%), artificial surfaces (26%) and grassland (25%) within 3 km, trees (63%) and grassland (32%) within 16 km, and trees (58%) and grassland (20%) within 80 km.

3 km
70 m
16 km
587 m
80 km
1,482 m
treesgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Maitland 22 km · Newcastle 41 km · Central Coast 66 km · Umina Beach 77 km · Muswellbrook 77 km · Pittwater 93 km · Hornsby 100 km · Wahroonga 101 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 Cessnock (-32.8321°, 151.3562°, elevation 71 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. 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).