Friday 31 January 2025 - Annual Climate Summary for Remote Islands and Antarctica - Product code IDCKGC5RL0
Remote Islands and Antarctica in 2024
Jump to a map of the areas covered in this summary
Australia's Indian Ocean islands
- The annual rainfall total at Cocos Island Airport was 1345.2 mm, this was 68 % of the annual average of 1969.5 mm.
- 2024 was Cocos Island Airport's warmest year on record with a mean annual temperature of 28.0 °C. The previous record was 27.7 °C in 1998.
- Cocos Island Airport recorded its highest annual mean maximum temperature on record at 30.2 °C. The previous record was 29.8 °C in 1998. The monthly mean maximum temperature for the station was the highest on record for January to February, June to August and December.
- On 3 December, Cocos Island Airport recorded its hottest day (highest daily maximum temperature) on record at 33.2 °C. The previous record was 32.8 °C on 23 February 2017.
- Cocos Island Airport had its highest annual mean minimum temperature on record at 25.7 °C. The previous record was 25.6 °C in 1998. The monthly mean minimum temperature for the station was the highest on record for May to August and November.
- Total annual rainfall for Christmas Island Aero was 2202.2 mm, this was close to the annual average of 2205.9 mm.
- 2024 was Christmas Island Airport's warmest year on record, with a mean annual temperature of 26.0 °C. The previous record was 25.9 °C in 2016.
- Christmas Island Aero, had its equal highest annual mean maximum temperature on record with 2016 at 28.2 °C.
- The annual mean minimum monthly temperature at Christmas Island Aero was the highest on record at 23.8 °C. The previous record was 23.7 °C in 2016. The monthly mean minimum temperature was the highest on record for May to June and November.
Australia's Pacific Ocean islands
- Norfolk Island Aero recorded 652.6 mm of rainfall during the year, which was 51 % below its annual average of 1287.6 mm and was the lowest annual rainfall on record for the station.
- 2024 was Norfolk Island Aero's warmest year on record with a mean annual temperature of 20.1 °C. The previous record was 20.0 °C in 1998.
- At Norfolk Island Aero, the annual mean maximum temperature was the highest on record at 22.8 °C. The previous record was 22.5 °C in 2016. The mean monhtly maximum temperature was the highest on record for August, September and December.
- On 23 January, Norfolk Island Aero had its hottest day (highest daily maximum temperature) on record at 28.5 °C. The previous record was 28.4 °C on 4 March 2011.
- The annual mean minimum temperature at Norfolk Island was the equal third-warmest on record at 17.4 °C. In 2024 the monthly mean minimum temperature was the highest on record for January, August and September.
- Total annual rainfall for Lord Howe Island Aero was 1385.3 mm, this was slightly below annual average value of 1477.2 mm.
- 2024 was Cocos Island Airport's warmest year on record with a mean annual temperature of 20.7 °C. The previous record was 20.3 °C in 2016.
- The mean maximum temperature at Lord Howe Island was the highest on record at 23.3 °C, the previous record was 23.0 °C in 2019. The mean annual minimum temperature was also the highest on record at 18.0 °C and the previous record was 17.9 °C in 1998.
Australia's Antarctic and sub-Antarctic territories
- The strongest wind gust recorded at an Australian Antarctic station during the year was 181 km/h at Mawson on the morning of 27 May.
- The mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures at Casey were 0.9 °C and 1.1 °C below average, respectively.
- At Davis and Mawson, both the mean maximum and minimum temperature were above the long-term average.
- Macquarie Island recorded 1121.6 mm of precipitation during the year, which was above its annual average of 1004.9 mm.
- Both mean maximum and minimum temperatures at Macquarie Island were 0.3 °C above average.
- The strongest wind gust this year at Macquarie Island was 124 km/hr on the morning of 10 March.
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Record highest year temperature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for year |
|||
| Norfolk Island Aero | 28.5 | on 23 January | 28.4 | on 04 Mar 2011 | 86 | 21.5 |
| Cocos Island Airport | 33.2 | on 3 December | 32.8 | on 23 Feb 2017 | 73 | 29.1 |
| Record highest year mean maximum temperature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for year |
||
| Norfolk Island Aero | 22.8 | 22.5 | in 2016 | 84 | 21.5 |
| Lord Howe Island Aero | 23.3 | 23.0 | in 2019 | 34 | 22.2 |
| Cocos Island Airport | 30.2 | 29.8 | in 1998 | 70 | 29.1 |
| Christmas Island Aero | 28.2 | =28.2 | in 2016 | 37 | 27.3 |
| Record highest year mean minimum temperature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for year |
||
| Lord Howe Island Aero | 18.0 | 17.9 | in 1998 | 34 | 17.2 |
| Cocos Island Airport | 25.7 | 25.6 | in 1998 | 70 | 24.6 |
| Christmas Island Aero | 23.8 | 23.7 | in 2016 | 33 | 23.0 |
| Record highest year mean temperature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for year |
||
| Norfolk Island Aero | 20.1 | 20.0 | in 1998 | 84 | 19.0 |
| Lord Howe Island Aero | 20.7 | 20.3 | in 2016 | 34 | 19.7 |
| Cocos Island Airport | 28.0 | 27.7 | in 1998 | 70 | 26.9 |
| Christmas Island Aero | 26.0 | 25.9 | in 2016 | 33 | 25.1 |
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Summary statistics for 2024 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Rainfall (millimetres) |
||||||||||
| Mean for year 2024 |
Diff from average |
Highest for year 2024 |
Mean for year 2024 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for year 2024 |
Total for year 2024 |
Average for year |
Rank of year 2024 |
Fraction of year average |
|||
| Offshore Islands | ||||||||||||
| Lord Howe Island Aero | 23.3 | +1.0 | 30.5 | 22 Jan 2024 | 18.0 | +0.8 | 8.3 | 24 Jul 2024 | 1385.3 | 1477.2 | average | 94% |
| Norfolk Island Aero | 22.8 | +1.2 | 28.5 | 23 Jan 2024 | 17.4 | +1.0 | 10.5 | 05 Jul 2024 | 652.6 | 1287.6 | lowest | 51% |
| Christmas Island Aero | 28.2 | +0.8 | 31.2 | 24 Feb 2024 | 23.8 | +0.9 | 19.9 | 22 Sep 2024 | 2202.2 | 2205.9 | average | 100% |
| Cocos Island Airport | 30.2 | +1.1 | 33.2 | 03 Dec 2024 | 25.7 | +1.0 | 21.0 | 11 Mar 2024 | 1345.2 | 1969.5 | low | 68% |
| Antarctica and Macquarie Island | ||||||||||||
| Casey | -6.8 | -0.9 | 6.0 | 24 Dec 2024 | -13.7 | -1.1 | -32.0 | 20 May 2024 | 279.1 | 215.6 | high | 129% |
| Davis | -7.0 | +0.3 | 9.1 | 23 Dec 2024 | -12.9 | +0.1 | -38.4 | 16 Jul 2024 | 48.7 | 70.3 | low | 69% |
| Macquarie Island | 6.9 | +0.3 | 11.7 | 31 Dec 2024 | 3.4 | +0.3 | -6.7 | 19 Aug 2024 | 1121.6 | 1004.9 | high | 112% |
| Mawson | -7.8 | +0.5 | 6.4 | 30 Jan 2024 | -13.9 | +0.3 | -31.0 | 14 Jul 2024 | ||||
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
Notes
The Annual climate summary, usually published in the first week of the following month, lists the main features of the weather in Remote Islands and Antarctica using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated.
This statement has been prepared based on information available on Friday 31 January 2025. 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 previous 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.
Unless otherwise noted, all maps, graphs and diagrams in this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
