Climate and average weather in Newcastle

In Newcastle, the summers are humid, warm, showery, and mostly clear and the winters are mild, breezy, and mostly clear.

Best: late July to late December

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Newcastle typically varies from 13°C to 24°C, and is rarely below 10°C or above 27°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 Newcastle for warm-weather activities are from early January to late May and late July to late December.

Hottest
Jan
24°
Coldest
Jul
13°
Wettest
Jun
113 mm
Driest
Sep
53 mm
Rain / yr
960 mm
115 wet days
Daylight
9.8–14.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
48 m
32.9°S
Clearest
Aug
33% cloud

Newcastle is city in New South Wales, Australia.

Density
1,942/km²
people per km²
Founded
1804

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

Newcastle 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 July to late December.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Newcastle stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is January, with an average high of 24°C and low of 21°C; the coolest is July, with an average low of 13°C and high of 16°C.

Days typically run about 3°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°15°20°25°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2421
Feb2421
Mar2320
Apr2118
May1916
Jun1714
Jul1613
Aug1713
Sep1915
Oct2016
Nov2118
Dec2320

Average hourly temperature in Newcastle

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 24°C, and coldest before dawn in July, near 13°C.

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

Newcastle 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
Jan24° / 21°769.513.97.2
Feb24° / 21°979.813.27.0
Mar23° / 20°9811.712.36.8
Apr21° / 18°8711.211.26.6
May19° / 16°9410.710.36.2
Jun17° / 14°11311.69.95.5
Jul16° / 13°739105.6
Aug17° / 13°567.210.86.3
Sep19° / 15°536.611.86.9
Oct20° / 16°638.412.86.8
Nov21° / 18°819.613.76.6
Dec23° / 20°709.814.17.0

Chance of rain

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

Newcastle gets about 960 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 5.2 months, from around Jan 18 to Jun 25, peaking in June at about 42% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Sep 21.

June is the wettest month by volume, with 113 mm over about 12 wet days; September is the driest, with 53 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJun 4 · 42%Sep 21 · 20%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3110
Feb3510
Mar3712
Apr3711
May3611
Jun3712
Jul299
Aug247
Sep237
Oct278
Nov3210
Dec3110

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Newcastle collects about 960 mm of rain across 115 wet days — roughly 80 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. June is the wettest month with 113 mm, while September is the driest at just 53 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 32% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec7697988794113735653638170
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan7610
Feb9710
Mar9812
Apr8711
May9411
Jun11312
Jul739
Aug567
Sep537
Oct638
Nov8110
Dec7010

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Newcastle, 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 June 20 and lasts for 3.9 months, ending around October 17. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 79% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 18 and lasts for 4.8 months, ending around March 12. The cloudiest month is November, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 42% 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 11 · 81%Dec 2 · 57%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6238
Feb6238
Mar6634
Apr6832
May6733
Jun6535
Jul7327
Aug7921
Sep7624
Oct6733
Nov5842
Dec5941

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 14, brings about 14 h 12 min of light; the shortest, around June 15, 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)
Jan13.96:048:01
Feb13.26:317:44
Mar12.36:557:10
Apr11.27:186:29
May10.37:405:58
Jun9.97:585:48
Jul10.07:585:59
Aug10.87:346:20
Sep11.86:536:41
Oct12.86:137:03
Nov13.75:467:30
Dec14.15:447:54

Sunny days

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

Newcastle averages about 15 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 12 and 20 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.7 months, from around Jun 22 to Oct 11. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 19 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is December, down near 13 sunny days — about 34% fewer than the August peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 1020 daysDec 112 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan14Mixed
Feb13Mixed
Mar15Mixed
Apr14Mixed
May14Mixed
Jun14Mixed
Jul17Bright
Aug20Bright
Sep18Bright
Oct15Mixed
Nov12Mixed
Dec13Mixed

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.5 months, from around November 7 to April 21. The muggiest month is January, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 84% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around April 22 to November 6, and June is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 99% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 27 · 100%Jan 30 · 12%oppressivemuggycomfortabledryhumidhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan413264611
Feb213264712
Mar62037343
Apr22383470
May5535900
Jun8217100
Jul955000
Aug946000
Sep7423300
Oct48341810
Nov253034110
Dec111839311

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 Newcastle is typically light breeze, near 19 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 3.6 months, from around May 30 to Sep 15. The windiest month is June, averaging about 20 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Feb 11 to May 29, with April the calmest month at about 17 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezyJun 16 · 20 km/hApr 14 · 17 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan19light breeze
Feb19light breeze
Mar18light breeze
Apr17light breeze
May18light breeze
Jun20light breeze
Jul20light breeze
Aug19light breeze
Sep19light breeze
Oct19light breeze
Nov19light breeze
Dec19light breeze

Hazard calendar for Newcastle

In seasonPeak

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

Newcastle 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 Newcastle

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early August, Newcastle 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 Newcastle for general outdoor tourist activities is from late July to late May, with a peak score in the second week of January.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 9 · 7.3

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
Jan7.2good
Feb7.0good
Mar6.8good
Apr6.6good
May6.2good
Jun5.5good
Jul5.6good
Aug6.3good
Sep6.9good
Oct6.8good
Nov6.6good
Dec7.0good

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 Newcastle for hot-weather activities is from early December to late March, with a peak score in the last week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 29 · 6.0

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 Newcastle, 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 24°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around July (highs near 16°C), pack a warm layer and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In January, Newcastle sees daytime highs around 24°C and nights near 21°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes and rain gear. About 10 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Newcastle

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea offshore is warmest in February at about 23°C and coldest in August near 18°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Nov 13 to Jun 11 — about 6.9 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 Newcastle 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 Newcastle peaks around January 18 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 highModerateHighVery highExtremeJan 18UV 13Jun 19UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan13Extreme
Feb12Extreme
Mar9Very high
Apr6High
May4Moderate
Jun2Moderate
Jul3Moderate
Aug4Moderate
Sep6High
Oct8Very high
Nov10Very high
Dec11Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Newcastle

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
Feb86
Mar7.54.5
Apr5.50.5
May30
Jun00
Jul1.50
Aug40
Sep5.50
Oct74.5
Nov85.5
Dec8.56.5

Air quality in Newcastle 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 Newcastle 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

Newcastle 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. Newcastle banks about 3,133 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around February.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan381
Feb348
Mar357
Apr291
May230
Jun163
Jul140
Aug154
Sep197
Oct248
Nov283
Dec343

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.

Newcastle receives about 4.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.5 and 6.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Sep 11 to Mar 19. The brightest month is January, averaging about 6.5 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 2.5 kWh/m² — roughly 61% less than the January peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseJan 16.9 kWhJun 122.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.6Intense
Feb5.7Bright
Mar4.8Bright
Apr3.9Moderate
May3.0Moderate
Jun2.5Moderate
Jul2.8Moderate
Aug3.8Moderate
Sep4.9Bright
Oct5.8Bright
Nov6.3Intense
Dec6.6Intense

Where is Newcastle?

Newcastle sits at 32.9°S, 151.8°E, 48 m above sea level, in Australia. The nearest listed city is Maitland, 30 km away.

What Newcastle looks like

Topography around Newcastle

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Newcastle has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 76 m around an average of 4 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 158 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 863 m.

The land around Newcastle is covered by water (61%) and artificial surfaces (31%) within 3 km, water (53%) within 16 km, and trees (44%) and water (33%) within 80 km.

3 km
76 m
16 km
158 m
80 km
863 m
treesgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetlandmangroves
Nearby: Maitland 30 km · Cessnock 41 km · Central Coast 67 km · Umina Beach 79 km · Pittwater 93 km · Dee Why 102 km · Saint Ives 106 km · Hornsby 107 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 Newcastle (-32.9295°, 151.7801°, elevation 48 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).