Sydney climate

Name: Sydney
Address: AU

Sydney is warmest in January, with average highs of 26 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 9.0 °C. February is the wettest month (88 mm) and July the driest (36 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Sydney averages 681 mm of rain and 69 days above 25 °C.

Australia · population 5,638,830 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month January 26 °C
Coldest month July 9.0 °C
Driest month July 36 mm
Wettest month February 88 mm
Least cloud August 32 % cloud
Hottest on record January 42 °C
Coldest on record July 1.1 °C
Warmest sea February 23 °C

What to expectSydney through the year

Sydney has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 16 °C in July to 26 °C in January, a swing of 10 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 69 days a year reach 25 °C, 12 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 42 °C, in January.

Rain is strongly seasonal. February averages 88 mm against 36 mm in July — 2.5 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Sydney is warmest in February at 23 °C and coldest in August at 18 °C. Sea temperature lags the air by a month or two, which is why late summer swims warmer than early summer at the same air temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	25.9 °C	68 mm	55 %
February	25.2 °C	88 mm	57 %
March	23.8 °C	69 mm	52 %
April	21.6 °C	53 mm	47 %
May	18.9 °C	46 mm	43 %
June	16.5 °C	65 mm	44 %
July	16.0 °C	36 mm	36 %
August	17.2 °C	37 mm	32 %
September	19.6 °C	41 mm	37 %
October	21.6 °C	51 mm	48 %
November	23.0 °C	70 mm	57 %
December	24.6 °C	55 mm	56 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	25.9 °C	19.7 °C	22.4 °C	42.0 °C	12.6 °C	17	4
February	25.2 °C	19.6 °C	22.2 °C	39.2 °C	13.9 °C	13	2
March	23.8 °C	18.1 °C	20.8 °C	37.0 °C	11.6 °C	9	1
April	21.6 °C	15.3 °C	18.3 °C	33.5 °C	9.2 °C	3	0
May	18.9 °C	12.3 °C	15.4 °C	26.6 °C	6.0 °C	0	0
June	16.5 °C	10.3 °C	13.1 °C	22.4 °C	3.9 °C	0	0
July	16.0 °C	9.0 °C	12.2 °C	24.1 °C	1.1 °C	0	0
August	17.2 °C	9.4 °C	13.1 °C	26.8 °C	3.0 °C	0	0
September	19.6 °C	11.6 °C	15.4 °C	33.0 °C	4.9 °C	2	0
October	21.6 °C	14.0 °C	17.5 °C	34.0 °C	8.3 °C	5	1
November	23.0 °C	16.0 °C	19.2 °C	38.2 °C	10.4 °C	8	2
December	24.6 °C	18.0 °C	21.0 °C	40.5 °C	11.1 °C	12	3

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	68 mm	9	14 h/day	55 %	73 %	20 km/h	22.8 °C
February	88 mm	9	13 h/day	57 %	75 %	19 km/h	23.3 °C
March	69 mm	10	12 h/day	52 %	75 %	17 km/h	23.2 °C
April	53 mm	8	11 h/day	47 %	73 %	15 km/h	22.3 °C
May	46 mm	6	10 h/day	43 %	73 %	15 km/h	21.0 °C
June	65 mm	8	9.9 h/day	44 %	74 %	15 km/h	19.6 °C
July	36 mm	5	10 h/day	36 %	70 %	15 km/h	18.6 °C
August	37 mm	5	11 h/day	32 %	66 %	17 km/h	18.1 °C
September	41 mm	5	12 h/day	37 %	66 %	19 km/h	18.3 °C
October	51 mm	7	13 h/day	48 %	68 %	19 km/h	19.2 °C
November	70 mm	9	14 h/day	57 %	71 %	20 km/h	20.1 °C
December	55 mm	8	14 h/day	56 %	71 %	20 km/h	21.4 °C

How Sydney compares

The same four figures for nearby destinations, so the numbers above have something to be read against. Summer high is the warmest month's average high; winter low is the coldest month's average low.

Destination	Summer high	Winter low	Rain per year	Days above 25 °C
Sydney	26 °C	9.0 °C	681 mm	69
Central Coast · Australia	26 °C	10 °C	868 mm	71
Wollongong · Australia	25 °C	10 °C	880 mm	57
Newcastle · Australia	26 °C	10 °C	746 mm	80
Canberra · Australia	27 °C	1.6 °C	562 mm	65

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Sydney.

QuestionsCommon questions about Sydney’s climate

When is the best time to visit Sydney?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. March, November, December sit closest to 20 °C on average, January is the warmest month and July the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Sydney get?

In January, the warmest month, daily highs average 26 °C. About 12 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 42 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 9.0 °C in July, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Sydney?

February, averaging 88 mm over 9 days with rain. The driest month is July with 36 mm. The year as a whole averages 681 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Sydney rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Data point: -33.868°, 151.207° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.