Climate highlights and notable events
Australia
- Warmest year on record; mean temperature +1.52 °C
- Warmest year on record for New South Wales and Western Australia; amongst top ten warmest for Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory
- Highest annual mean maximum temperature on record for Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, and Hobart
- Australia's driest year on record, annual total rainfall 40% below average
- Much of Australia affected by drought
- One of the strongest positive Indian Ocean Dipole events on record
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Northern Australia
- Unusually late tropical cyclones in May; Lili in the Top End, and Ann in Queensland
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Northern Territory
- Late monsoon onset at Darwin in 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons
- Tropical cyclone Trevor (March) caused flooding in the western Gulf coast
- Second-warmest year on record for the Northern Territory
- Annual rainfall second-lowest on record for the Northern Territory
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Western Australia
- Severe tropical cyclone Veronica caused major flooding on the Pilbara coast during late March
- Significant rainfall deficiencies across the South West Land Division
- Frost events in September caused damage to crops in southwest Western Australia
- Warmest year on record for Western Australia
- Annual rainfall second-lowest on record for Western Australia
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Queensland
- Very large bushfires across southeast Queensland from September until the end of the year
- Large areas of flooding in Queensland's tropical coast, including around Townsville, from late January into early February; and also in the Gulf Country and western Queensland from February into April
- Severe storms with heavy rain and giant hail in southeast Queensland in November, and in early December
- Sixth-warmest year on record for Queensland
- Annual mean maximum temperature highest on record for Brisbane
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Murray–Darling Basin
- Significant rainfall deficiencies across New South Wales and southern Queensland; driest year on record for the Murray–Darling Basin
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New South Wales
- Very large bushfires across eastern New South Wales from September until the end of the year
- Smoke affected many communities for prolonged periods from September
- Severe storms across New South Wales in late November
- Warmest year on record for New South Wales
- Annual mean maximum temperature highest on record for Sydney
- Annual rainfall lowest on record for New South Wales
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South Australia
- Most significant filling for Lake Eyre / Kati Thanda since 2010–11
- Second-warmest year on record for South Australia
- Annual rainfall lowest on record for South Australia
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Southern Australia
- Heatwaves in January and December; high temperature records set across much of Australia, including Australia's warmest day on record on 18 December
- July–December rainfall lowest on record for southern Australia
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Southeastern Australia
- Coolest August mean minimum temperatures on record for parts of the inland southeast
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Victoria
- Significant rainfall deficiencies for Gippsland
- Bushfires in Gippsland and northeast Victoria from summer to autumn, and also for Gippsland from spring into December
- Fifth-warmest year on record for Victoria
- Annual rainfall tenth-lowest on record for Victoria
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Tasmania
- Large bushfires across remote and wilderness areas of Tasmania during summer and autumn
- Annual mean maximum temperature highest on record for Hobart
Select dots for regional details