It
is tropical monsoonal climate in Cairns Australia.
It is similar
to the climate
in the whole Cape York (which
I explained a bit further on the northern
Australian climate
page), except it rains more in Cairns.
As opposed to the places in southern parts of Australia, up here we
have two seasons - the
Wet (when it is summer in southern Australia and winter in
the Northern Hemisphere), and the
Dry(when
it is winter in southern
Australia and summer in the Northern Hemisphere).
Dry
Season
The Dry
season has sunny weather,
clear skies
and cool
temperatures (usually about 20-25 degrees Celsius) -
perfect
temperature.
But this does not mean
that it never rains.
We can still
get a bit of rain, and actually in later years it has increased to the
point where we really
don't have a proper Dry season anymore.
(As elsewhere in
the world, the climate
has changed lately and it is not impossible that it is due to
global
warming).
Wet
Season
The Wet
season has at least two distinctive stages in it - the
Early Wet, and the Late Wet.
Early Wet - Heat and Thunderstorms
The Early
Wet stats gradually some time in November, and is also known
as the "Troppo" Season
(meaning people go crazy from the tropical heat).
It is the build-up to
the 'real' Wet, and the temperatures gradually increase
through 30s into the 40s,
and in combination with the tropical
humidity (southern Australia can also get such summer
temperatures but not for as long periods as up here, and they don't
have the humidity) create a weather that sends everyone mad.
The heat
builds up from the mornings
until about midday,
when it is so hot that it creates huge thunderstorms, so the afternoons see
lightening, thundering and heavy
rain.
Early wet season tropical strom,
Cairns Northern Beaches.
This cools the temperature down, so by the evening the storms
calm down, the skies go
clear, and the following morning the sun is out, heats the
weather up again, and everything repeats itself.
Late,
or the 'Proper' Wet - Cool Temperatures and Monsoonal Rains
Some time
January (can occasionally vary from December to February)
this changes when the real
moonsoon season starts.
Monsoonal rains
move seasonally
between the north and the south of the Equator. When we have the Dry
season, they are up in South East Asia, and when we have the Wet Season
they
come down here.
When those rains roll in,
you know that the Wet Season indeed has a very appropriate name.
It is not hot anymore,
but it definitely is wet.
It is raining a lot, and when it's not, the skies are still
mostly overcast.
There is no sun to heat
up the weather, and no thunderstorms. There may be some
brighter days in between, but in most days it is raining.
Late wet season rain just south of Cairns.
Tropical
Cyclones
Only one thing can bring some change and that's when a tropical
cyclone comes along.
Cairns has had many
over the years,
and while the last bigger ones were
Cyclone Larry
(March 2006) and Cyclone
Yasi (February 2011, both category 5), we had Cyclone Ita last
year (2014), and there are many smaller cyclones many times a year.
They may not cause just as much damage and news headlines, but they are
still violent wind systems that are potentially dangerous.
The big ones cause quite
a damage not only to buildings and private property, but
they also change the look of the whole landscape and our tropical
rainforests:
You only
need to have a look
at the photos of tropical rainforest south of Cairns before and after
Cyclone Larry.
Average
Temperature and Rainfall
Month by Month
Here are the average
temperatures in Cairns in Celcius:
Month
Maximum
Minimum
January
31.8
23.4
February
31.3
23.3
March
30.5
22.6
April
29.2
21.1
May
27.4
18.9
June
25.9
17.3
July
25.5
16.3
August
26.3
16.3
September
28.0
17.8
October
29.7
19.7
November
30.7
21.3
December
31.8
22.7
Here is the average
rainfall in Cairns in millimetres:
Get
this 50 pages
guide totally for FREE.
It
contains information that helps you getting started with planning of your trip.
You get to make early-stages desicions such as when to go, how long time you
should take, how to get
there and get
around, where
to stay (general info), what
will it cost..
and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.
This complete 300 pages
travel guide is all you need before and during your trip. Besides the
background chapters on the peninsula's history and wildlife; and the comprehensive detail about all
the places (down to prices, opening hours and full contact
detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks,
at least 30 guaranteed FREE
camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to
the Cape), at least 40 best
swimming holes, all mapped; as well as practical things -
from fuel, roads, wireless internet and mobile phone reception,
how to deal with the national
parks booking rules; and Aboriginal land entrance and camping permits
and alcohol restrictions - to vehicle preparation and accessories and necessary recovery
gear by my vehicle-recovery-guy partner).
Not to mention locals'
tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)
If
you liked the books or
this website, let others know about it!
Link to it from your website, your blog, your forum post... Share it on Facebook, Tweet
about it...
Every link helps other travellers!
Thank you for doing the
right thing and letting others know :-)
This site uses British
English, which is the English we use in
Australia.
Disclaimer:
Although
best efforts have been made to ensure that all the information on this
website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.