Today is the First day of Summer in Australia

Since the 1950s, Australian temperatures have, on average, risen by about 1°C with an increase in the frequency of heat waves and a decrease in the numbers of frosts and cold days, except in the regions immediately to the west and north-west of Sydney. Since 1900, the sea temperatures are showing to be two degrees warmer.

Source: Wikimedia Commons Bigwavephoto CC BY-SA 4.0

Australia is a continent that experiences a variety of climates due to its size. The temperature can range from below zero in the Snowy Mountains in southern Australia to extreme heat in the Kimberley region in the north-west of the continent

In the southern capital cities: Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide and Perth, defined by the temperate zone, the average temperatures are: Summer minimum 16 and Summer maximum 26 and Winter minimum 6 and Winter maximum 14, all in degrees Celsius.

In the sub-tropic and tropical cities the average minimum temperatures are: Brisbane 16 and Darwin 23 with the average maximums: Brisbane 25 and Darwin 32. In the inland city of Alice Springs, surrounded by desert and grassland, the average minimum is 20 and the average maximum is 32.

Due to the size of the continent, there is not one single seasonal calendar for the entire continent. Instead there are six climatic zones and this translates as two main seasonal patterns.

There is a Summer / Autumn / Winter / Spring pattern in the Temperate zone, also affecting the Desert and the Grassland climatic zones and, a Wet / Dry pattern in the tropical north which includes the Equatorial, Tropical and sub-tropical zones.

Depending upon where you are each Month, the season will vary on whether the weather is defined by the Temperate zone seasons or the tropical seasons.