Townsville climate

Name: Townsville
Address: AU

Townsville is warmest in December, with average highs of 31 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 15 °C. February is the wettest month (225 mm) and September the driest (10.0 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Townsville averages 869 mm of rain and 298 days above 25 °C.

Australia · population 201,313 · 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 December 31 °C
Coldest month July 15 °C
Driest month September 10 mm
Wettest month February 225 mm
Least cloud September 35 % cloud
Hottest on record January 42 °C
Coldest on record June 7.3 °C
Warmest sea February 29 °C

What to expectTownsville through the year

Townsville has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 24 °C in July to 31 °C in December, a swing of 7.8 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 298 days a year reach 25 °C, 93 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 42 °C, in January.

Rain is strongly seasonal. February averages 225 mm against 10 mm in September — 23 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Townsville is warmest in February at 29 °C and coldest in July at 22 °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	30.7 °C	212 mm	65 %
February	30.2 °C	225 mm	64 %
March	29.6 °C	126 mm	58 %
April	28.4 °C	51 mm	46 %
May	26.2 °C	29 mm	46 %
June	24.4 °C	20 mm	41 %
July	24.0 °C	18 mm	37 %
August	25.0 °C	15 mm	35 %
September	27.3 °C	10 mm	35 %
October	28.8 °C	26 mm	38 %
November	30.0 °C	48 mm	46 %
December	30.9 °C	89 mm	54 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	30.7 °C	24.6 °C	27.2 °C	42.3 °C	19.5 °C	31	19
February	30.2 °C	24.4 °C	27.0 °C	39.4 °C	20.4 °C	28	14
March	29.6 °C	23.4 °C	26.2 °C	37.3 °C	19.2 °C	31	11
April	28.4 °C	21.5 °C	24.6 °C	33.9 °C	14.7 °C	29	4
May	26.2 °C	18.8 °C	22.3 °C	30.9 °C	9.4 °C	24	0
June	24.4 °C	16.4 °C	20.1 °C	30.0 °C	7.3 °C	12	0
July	24.0 °C	15.3 °C	19.5 °C	31.0 °C	7.3 °C	8	0
August	25.0 °C	16.3 °C	20.4 °C	31.7 °C	8.0 °C	15	0
September	27.3 °C	18.9 °C	22.7 °C	34.9 °C	12.2 °C	28	2
October	28.8 °C	21.4 °C	24.6 °C	35.6 °C	16.0 °C	31	6
November	30.0 °C	23.1 °C	26.1 °C	41.5 °C	18.2 °C	30	14
December	30.9 °C	24.4 °C	27.2 °C	40.9 °C	19.4 °C	31	21

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	212 mm	16	13 h/day	65 %	76 %	17 km/h	28.9 °C
February	225 mm	17	13 h/day	64 %	79 %	16 km/h	29.1 °C
March	126 mm	12	12 h/day	58 %	76 %	16 km/h	28.4 °C
April	51 mm	6	12 h/day	46 %	73 %	16 km/h	27.0 °C
May	29 mm	5	11 h/day	46 %	71 %	15 km/h	25.1 °C
June	20 mm	3	11 h/day	41 %	70 %	15 km/h	23.3 °C
July	18 mm	2	11 h/day	37 %	69 %	15 km/h	22.3 °C
August	15 mm	2	11 h/day	35 %	68 %	16 km/h	22.5 °C
September	10 mm	2	12 h/day	35 %	68 %	17 km/h	24.0 °C
October	26 mm	5	13 h/day	38 %	68 %	17 km/h	25.7 °C
November	48 mm	8	13 h/day	46 %	70 %	17 km/h	27.2 °C
December	89 mm	11	13 h/day	54 %	72 %	17 km/h	28.4 °C

Where Townsville ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Best beach destinations in the world in September	5th of 50	99/100
Best beach destinations in the world in May	11th of 50	96/100
Best beach destinations in the world in April	22nd of 50	93/100
Warmest sea temperatures in the world in February	25th of 50	29 °C
Best beach destinations in the world year-round	26th of 50	85/100
Places with the best weather in the world in July	27th of 50	96/100

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Townsville’s climate

When is the best time to visit Townsville?

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

How hot does Townsville get?

In December, the warmest month, daily highs average 31 °C. About 93 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 15 °C in July, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Townsville?

February, averaging 225 mm over 17 days with rain. The driest month is September with 10 mm. The year as a whole averages 869 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 Townsville 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: -19.266°, 146.806° (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.