Climate of Australia

The 7,686,850 km² Australian landmass is surrounded by the Indian, Southern and Pacific oceans, and separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas, with total of 25,760 km of coastline. Climate is highly influenced by ocean currents, including the El Niño southern oscillation, which causes periodic drought, and the seasonal tropical low pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia.

By far the largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid – 40 per cent of the land mass is covered by sand dunes. Australia is the driest inhabited continent, the flattest, and has the oldest and least fertile soils. The highest mountain in Australia is Mawson Peak on Heard Island at 2,745 m. At 2,228 m, Mount Kosciuszko on the Great Dividing Range is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland. Only the south-east and south-west corners of the continent have a temperate climate. The northern part of the country has a tropical climate: part is tropical rainforest, part grasslands, and part desert. The Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef, lies a short distance off the north-east coast and extends for over 1,200 km. Located in central Australia, Uluru (until 1986 officially known as Ayers Rock) is the second largest monolith in the world (the largest being Mount Augustus in Western Australia).

The climate is generally pleasant without extremes in temperatures. Broadly there are two climatic zones. In the north, above the Tropic of Capricorn, about 40 per cent of Australia is in the tropical zone. The remaining areas lie in the temperate zone.

However, because of Australia’s vast size, there are variations within these zones. The temperate regions have all four seasons, while those in the tropical zone have two: summer (wet season) and winter (dry season).

Australia’s seasons are the opposite to those of the Northern Hemisphere:

Spring: September - November
Summer: December -February
Autumn: March - May
Winter: June - August