Australia in Autumn 2024

In brief

• The national area-averaged autumn rainfall total was 32.1% above the 1961–1990 average, the highest since 2011.

• Autumn rainfall was above average for the interior of Western Australia, most of the Northern Territory and large parts of Queensland, New South Wales and northern South Australia.

• Significant flooding affected large parts of central and eastern Western Australia, northern Queensland and the Northern Territory, associated mostly with a monsoon trough and Severe Tropical Cyclone Megan in March.

• Rainfall was below average for Victoria, Tasmania, south-west Western Australia and parts of southern and inland South Australia, as the weather was dominated by high pressure systems to the south of the country.

• Tasmania and Victoria had their fifth-driest and ninth-driest autumn on record, respectively.

• The Northern Territory has its third-wettest autumn on record.

• Australia's national area-averaged mean temperature was 0.53 °C above the 1961–1990 average.

• Australia's area-averaged mean maximum temperature for autumn was 0.46 °C above the 1961–1990 average, while the area-averaged mean minimum temperature was 0.59 °C above the 1961–1990 average.

• Mean maximum temperatures were warmer than average for the south-east and the coastal areas of Australia and the highest on record for parts of Western Australia's west coast. Mean maximum temperatures were below average for inland areas of the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

• Mean minimum temperatures were above average for most of Australia, but below average for parts of southern and south-eastern South Australia, western Victoria and scattered parts across the interior of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Further information and tables of records for each state and the Northern Territory can be found in the individual regional climate summaries, to be released on 5 June. For discussion of events during autumn, see the individual monthly climate summaries for Australia for March, April and May.

Temperatures

Australia's national area-averaged mean temperature for autumn was 0.53 °C above the 1961–1990 average.

Australia's area-averaged mean maximum temperature was 0.46 °C above the 1961–1990 autumn average.

Area-averaged maximum temperatures were above average for all states, while for the Northern Territory it was 0.88 °C below average and the lowest since 2012.

Mean maximum temperatures were above average to very much above average (in the highest 10% of all autumns since 1910) for Victoria, Tasmania, most of New South Wales and South Australia, a large area in the western part of Western Australia, the Top End of the Northern Territory and coastal and inland areas of central Queensland. Autumn maximum temperatures were the highest on record for parts of Western Australia's west coast, with many stations in these areas having their highest mean maximum temperatures records for autumn.

A heatwave affected most of south-eastern Australia in the first half of March, with both daytime and night-time temperatures more than 10 °C above the March average, while parts of Western Australia's far west experienced very much above average temperatures in all three autumn months. In May, Perth Metro had 13 consecutive days of at least 25.0 °C, a May record for the combined sites of Perth.

Mean maximum temperatures were below average to very much below average (in the lowest 10% of all autumns since 1910) for inland areas of the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

Australia's area-averaged mean minimum temperature was 0.59 °C above the 1961–1990 average.

Mean minimum temperatures were above average to very much above average (in the highest 10% of all autumns since 1910) for most of Queensland, northern and eastern New South Wales, northern South Australia and large parts of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Autumn minimum temperatures were the highest on record for northern Cape York Peninsula in Queensland.

Queensland had its ninth-warmest autumn night-time temperatures on record, with the state-wide mean minimum temperature 1.35 °C above the 1961–1990 average.

Clear skies and mostly dry weather under the high pressure systems during autumn resulted in below average to very much below average (in the lowest 10% of all autumns since 1910) mean minimum temperatures for parts of southern and south-eastern South Australia and western Victoria extending into southern New South Wales. Mean minimum temperatures were also below average for areas scattered across the interior of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Rank ranges from 1 (lowest) to 115 (highest). A rank marked with ’=‘ indicates the value is tied for that rank. Anomaly is the departure from the long-term (1961–1990) average.

Rainfall

The national area-averaged autumn rainfall total was 32.1% above the 1961–1990 average, the highest since 2011.

The season began with the third wettest March on record nationally (since 1900), followed by a drier than average April and May.

Autumn rainfall was above average to very much above average (in the highest 10% of all autumns) for the eastern half of Western Australia, most of the Northern Territory, and large parts of Queensland, New South Wales and northern South Australia. Rainfall for autumn was the highest on record for parts of the Northern Territory's Tanami and Barkly districts and parts of the Southern Interior district in Western Australia. Some stations in these areas had their highest total rainfall for autumn on record, including Eyre (Western Australia), which received its annual average rainfall over 3 days in March with 314.4 mm being recorded over the 10th to 12th.

The Northern Territory had its third-wettest autumn on record, behind only 2011 and 1983. This was largely due to the Northern Territory experiencing its wettest March on record, with the area-averaged rainfall being 161.7% above average for that month.

Significant flooding affected large parts of central and eastern Western Australia, northern Queensland and the Northern Territory during autumn. Flooding resulted from a heavy rainfall in March, associated with a near-stationary low pressure trough across central and eastern Western Australia, a monsoon trough across the Top End of the Northern Territory and northern Queensland, and Severe Tropical Cyclone Megan. Early in April, parts of the New South Wales coast experienced flooding as a deep coastal trough with an embedded low pressure system moved southward along the coast.

Rainfall in autumn was below average for Victoria, Tasmania and south-west Western Australia, and parts of southern and inland areas of South Australia. Over these areas, the weather was dominated by high-pressure systems to the south of the country for most of autumn, with the passage of a few cold fronts across southern parts of the country occuring towards the end of May.

Tasmania had its fifth-driest autumn on record, with area-averaged rainfall 41.7% below the 1961–1990 average, the driest autumn since 2002. For Victoria, it was the ninth-driest autumn on record, 46.6% below the 1961–1990 average and the driest since 2008.

Significant weather and records

For discussion of events during autumn see the individual monthly climate summaries for Australia for March, April and May.

Further information and tables of records for each state and the Northern Territory can be found in the individual regional climate summaries, to be released on 5 June.

Rank ranges from 1 (lowest) to 125 (highest). A rank marked with ’=‘ indicates the value is tied for that rank. Departure from mean is relative to the long-term (1961–1990) average.