Climate
Cairns experiences a tropical climate, specifically a Tropical monsoon climate (Am) under the Köppen climate classification. A wet season with tropical monsoons runs from November to May, with a relatively dry season from June to October, though showers are frequent for most of this period. Cairns' mean annual rainfall is 2,015.9 millimetres (79.4 in). The township of Babinda at the southern end of the city is one of Australia's wettest towns, recording an annual rainfall of over 4,200 millimetres (165.4 in). It has hot, humid summers and milder temperatures in winter. Mean maximum temperatures vary from 25.7 °C (78.3 °F) in July to 31.4 °C (88.5 °F) in January. Monsoonal activity during the wet season occasionally causes major flooding of the Barron and Mulgrave Rivers, cutting off road and rail access to the city.
| Climate data for Cairns Aero AWS | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 40.4 (104.7) |
38.9 (102.0) |
37.7 (99.9) |
36.8 (98.2) |
31.3 (88.3) |
30.8 (87.4) |
30.1 (86.2) |
31.4 (88.5) |
33.9 (93.0) |
36.0 (96.8) |
37.2 (99.0) |
40.5 (104.9) |
40.5 (104.9) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 31.4 (88.5) |
31.2 (88.2) |
30.6 (87.1) |
29.2 (84.6) |
27.6 (81.7) |
26.0 (78.8) |
25.7 (78.3) |
26.6 (79.9) |
28.1 (82.6) |
29.5 (85.1) |
30.6 (87.1) |
31.4 (88.5) |
29.0 (84.2) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 23.7 (74.7) |
23.8 (74.8) |
23.0 (73.4) |
21.6 (70.9) |
19.9 (67.8) |
17.9 (64.2) |
17.1 (62.8) |
17.4 (63.3) |
18.7 (65.7) |
20.6 (69.1) |
22.3 (72.1) |
23.4 (74.1) |
20.8 (69.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 18.2 (64.8) |
17.9 (64.2) |
17.7 (63.9) |
13.0 (55.4) |
10.1 (50.2) |
6.2 (43.2) |
7.3 (45.1) |
7.8 (46.0) |
11.1 (52.0) |
12.4 (54.3) |
14.6 (58.3) |
17.1 (62.8) |
6.2 (43.2) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 396.3 (15.602) |
455.3 (17.925) |
427.7 (16.839) |
196.5 (7.736) |
90.3 (3.555) |
45.5 (1.791) |
29.3 (1.154) |
27.0 (1.063) |
34.0 (1.339) |
46.8 (1.843) |
94.8 (3.732) |
180.7 (7.114) |
2,029.9 (79.917) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 18.3 | 19.0 | 19.3 | 17.7 | 13.6 | 9.5 | 8.8 | 7.9 | 7.6 | 8.3 | 10.5 | 13.8 | 154.3 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 210.8 | 170.8 | 198.4 | 201.0 | 207.7 | 219.0 | 229.4 | 248.0 | 258.0 | 272.8 | 252.0 | 238.7 | 2,706.6 |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology | |||||||||||||
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