Monday, 15 January 2024 - Annual Climate Summary for Greater Sydney - Product code IDCKGC55L0

Greater Sydney in 2023

Rainfall

  • Rainfall across Greater Sydney during 2023 was about 70 to 90% of the annual average at most sites, with the majority of months observing below average rainfall.

Temperature

  • Maximum temperatures across Greater Sydney during 2023 were above average, with the annual mean daily maximum temperature at most sites being 0.5 to 1.5 °C above their average.
  • Minimum temperatures across Greater Sydney were generally close to average, with the annual mean daily minimum temperature at most sites being within 0.5 °C of their average.
  • Mangrove Mountain AWS had its lowest temperature on record on 21 June, as well as its lowest mean daily minimum temperature on record.

Sydney (Observatory Hill)

  • Total rainfall for Sydney (Observatory Hill) is estimated to be 1065 mm.
  • The estimated annual total rainfall includes around 70 mm (based on nearby sites) over 22 to 24 February, missed due to an equipment fault.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Sydney (Observatory Hill) was 23.8 °C.
  • The warmest day was 40.0 °C on 9 December, and the coolest day was on 28 June when the temperature reached 11.7 °C.
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Sydney (Observatory Hill) was 14.6 °C.
  • The coldest morning was 5.1 °C on 20 July, and the warmest morning was on 29 January when the minimum temperature was 23.9 °C.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes in 2023
Hottest day 44.0 °C at Badgerys Creek AWS on 9 Dec
Warmest days on average 25.7 °C at Penrith Lakes AWS
Coolest days on average 18.2 °C at Mount Boyce AWS
Coldest day 4.9 °C at Mount Boyce AWS on 28 Jun
Coldest night -2.9 °C at Camden Airport AWS on 18 Jun
Coolest nights on average 8.5 °C at Mount Boyce AWS
Warmest nights on average 16.0 °C at Sydney Harbour (Wedding Cake West)
Warmest night 24.1 °C at Gosford AWS on 29 Jan
24.1 °C at Sydney Airport AMO on 29 Jan
24.1 °C at Sydney Harbour (Wedding Cake West) on 29 Jan
24.1 °C at Sydney Olympic Park AWS (Archery Centre) on 29 Jan
Warmest on average overall 19.2 °C at Sydney (Observatory Hill)
19.2 °C at Sydney Airport AMO
Coolest on average overall 13.3 °C at Mount Boyce AWS
Wettest overall 1236.0 mm at Darkes Forest (Kintyre)
Wettest day 128.8 mm at Duffys Forest (Namba Rd) on 22 Feb
Strongest wind gust 115 km/h at Norah Head AWS on 29 Nov

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Record lowest temperature
New record
(°C)		 Old
record		 Years of
record		 Annual
average
Mangrove Mountain AWS -1.7 on 21 Jun -0.8 on 30 Aug 2018 30 11.6


Record lowest annual mean daily minimum temperature
New record
(°C)		 Old
record		 Years of
record		 Annual
average
Mangrove Mountain AWS 10.9 = 10.9 in 2021 29 11.6


Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for 2023
Maximum temperatures
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
(°C)		 Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean
for
2023		 Diff
from
average		 Highest
for
2023		 Mean
for
2023		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest
for
2023		 Total
for
2023		 Average
annual
total		 Rank
of
2023		 Fraction
of annual
average
Bankstown Airport AWS 24.6 +1.2 42.5 9 Dec 12.4 +0.3 0.3 19 Jun 740.8 887.6 low 83%
Camden Airport AWS 24.9 +1.1 42.5 9 Dec 10.2 -0.1 -2.9 18 Jun 701.8 820.4 average 86%
Campbelltown (Mount Annan) 24.7 +0.7 41.9 9 Dec 10.5 -0.2 -1.6 21 Jun 680.0 784.5 average 87%
Canterbury Racecourse AWS 23.7 +0.6 41.6 9 Dec 12.1 -0.2 0.0 19 Jun
Cooranbong (Lake Macquarie AWS) 24.4 +0.5 40.9 9 Dec 11.0 -0.4 -1.2 21 Jun 907.6 1125.3 low 81%
Gosford AWS 23.6 +0.4 41.4 9 Dec 12.8 -0.4 1.4 19 Jun
Holsworthy Aerodrome AWS 24.1 +0.4 42.6 9 Dec 11.7 -0.2 -1.2 20 Jul 616.2 888.3 low 69%
Holsworthy Defence AWS 23.9   43.8 9 Dec 11.6   0.2 19 Jun 756.0
Horsley Park Equestrian Centre AWS 24.5 +0.7 42.6 9 Dec 12.0 -0.1 0.8 28 May 650.2 775.1 low 84%
Mangrove Mountain AWS 23.7 +1.7 40.3 9 Dec 10.9 -0.7 -1.7 21 Jun 833.4 1116.6 low 75%
Mount Boyce AWS 18.2 +1.1 34.3 9 Dec 8.5 +0.4 -1.7 20 Jun 833.8 1036.8 low 80%
Parramatta North (Masons Drive) 24.3 +0.9 40.5 9 Dec 13.0 +0.8 1.0 20 Jul 808.0 981.7 low 82%
Penrith Lakes AWS 25.7 +0.9 43.9 9 Dec 12.2 -0.1 -0.2 21 Jun 566.0 733.3 low 77%
Richmond RAAF 25.5 +1.2 43.8 9 Dec 11.1 -0.1 -2.8 20 Jul 532.0 761.4 low 70%
Sydney (Observatory Hill) 23.8   40.0 9 Dec 14.6   5.1 20 Jul
Sydney Airport AMO 23.9 +1.5 43.5 9 Dec 14.6 +1.0 5.3 21 Jun 1000.8 1092.4 average 92%
Sydney Harbour (Wedding Cake West) 21.7 +0.4 38.6 6 Mar 16.0 +0.3 6.9 20 Jul
Sydney Olympic Park AWS (Archery Centre) 24.4 +0.4 42.5 9 Dec 12.9 -0.1 1.8 19 Jun 721.4
Terrey Hills AWS 22.4 +0.5 40.7 9 Dec 13.4 +0.1 3.7 21 Jun 1131.0 1191.3 average 95%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Notes

The Annual climate summary, lists the main features of the weather in Greater Sydney using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated.

This summary includes data from observing sites in or near the Greater Sydney “Greater Capital City Statistical Area” (GCCSA). The Australian Bureau of Statistics designed the GCCSAs to represent a socio-economic definition of each capital city. This means the greater capital city boundary includes people who regularly socialise, shop or work within the capital city, but live in the small towns and rural areas surrounding the capital city. It does not define the built up edge of the capital city.

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 1 pm on Monday 15 January 2024. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

In some situations, some or all of the rainfall is in the form of hail or snow. In these cases the totals given are for the water equivalent: the depth of liquid water that results from melting any frozen precipitation. There can be significant 'undercatch' of snow in strong winds, meaning the true precipitation can be higher than that reported.

Averages for individual sites are long-term means based on observations from all available years of record, which vary widely from site to site. They are not shown for sites with less than 10 years of record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
The median is sometimes more representative than the mean of long-term average rain.

The Rank indicates how rainfall this time compares with the climate record for the site, based on the decile ranking (very low rainfall is in decile 1, low in decile 2 or 3, average in decile 4 to 7, high in decile 8 or 9 and very high is in decile 10).
The Fraction of average shows how much rain has fallen this time as a percentage of the long-term mean.

Where temperature area averages are mentioned, they are derived from the ACORN-SAT dataset.

Information about Australian Indigenous seasonal calendars is available at the Indigenous Weather Knowledge website.

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