Climate highlights and notable events
Australia
- Third-warmest year on record; mean temperature +0.95 °C
- Maxima particularly warm; second-warmest on record; +1.27 °C above average
- Annual rainfall 8% above average
- Wet start and end to the year, dry in the middle; June to September sixth-driest on record
- Sea surface temperature much warmer than average, particularly for eastern Australian region
- Tropical Pacific Ocean reached La Niña thresholds in late November
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Northern Australia
- Slow-moving tropical lows caused flooding in northern and western Australia during January and February; nationally January the fourth-wettest on record
- July mean maximum temperature highest on record for northern Australia
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Northern Territory
- Ninth-wettest year on record for Darwin
- Dry season (May–September) mean maximum temperature warmest on record for the Northern Territory
- Annual maximum temperature fifth-warmest on record for the Northern Territory
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Southeastern Queensland and northern New South Wales
- Severe tropical cyclone Debbie caused widespread wind damage, and flooding in Queensland and northeastern New South Wales during March and early April
- Record high May–September forest fire danger index values over Queensland and northern New South Wales
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Queensland
- Annual mean and maximum temperature warmest on record for Queensland
- Equal warmest year on record for Brisbane
- October flooding on Queensland's east coast, particularly at Bundaberg and Tully
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New South Wales
- Annual mean and maximum temperature warmes on record for New South Wales
- Annual maximum temperature equal second-warmest on record for Sydney
- February bushfire in the Warrumbungle region destroyed 35 homes, damaged 11
- Heavy rain led to flooding on the east coast of New South Wales in mid-March
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Southern Australia
- June nights much cooler than average for the southern mainland; June mean minimum temperature seventh-lowest on record for the southeast
- Winter rainfall much below average; June driest on record for southeast Australia
- September rainfall lowest on record for Murray–Darling Basin
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Southeastern Australia
- Long summer warm spell, particularly in the southeast and southern Queensland, with many records set, especially during February
- After a slow start to the snow season, late heavy snowfall saw snow depths reach more than two metres in the Snowy Mountains during September; the deepest observed since 2000
- Exceptional warmth during the last week of September, records set in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland
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Victoria and Tasmania
- Long-lived blocking high brought extended warmth; November warmest on record for Tasmania, second-warmest for Victoria
- November and December sea surface temperatures highest on record across Bass Strait and the Tasman Sea
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Tasmania
- Annual maximum temperature seventh-warmest on record for Tasmania
- 16th-driest year on record for Tasmania, particularly low June–November rainfall on the east coast
- Annual maximum temperature warmest on record for Hobart
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Victoria
- Sixth-warmest year on record for Victoria
- Very dry year for Gippsland, rainfall below average from May
- Heavy rain in early December, flooding in central to northeastern Victoria, and flash flooding around Melbourne
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South Australia
- Fifth-warmest year on record for South Australia
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Western Australia
- Ninth-wettest year on record for Western Australia
- Annual maximum temperature eighth-warmest on record for Western Australia
- Slow-moving tropical lows caused flooding during January and February
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