Remote Islands and Antarctica in January 2025

Australia's Indian Ocean islands

  • Christmas Island Aero had a monthly rainfall total of 383.4 mm, this was 132% of its January average rainfall of 290.1 mm.
  • At Christmas Island Aero, the mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were 0.5 °C and 0.3 °C above average, respectively.
  • The monthly rainfall total at Cocos Island Airport was 5% of its January average rainfall of 8.8 mm, compared to the January average of 165.3 mm.
  • At Cocos Island Airport, the mean maximum temperature was 1.4 °C above average. The station recorded its hottest January day (highest daily maximum temperature) on record on the 27th at 33.1 °C. The station also recorded its highest January mean maximum temperature on record at 31.2 °C.
  • The mean minimum temperature at Cocos Island Airport was 1.2 °C above average. The station had its highest January mean minimum temperature on record at 26.1 °C, the previous record was 26.0 °C in 2016.

Australia's Pacific Ocean islands

  • Norfolk Island Aero recorded a monthly rainfall total of 25.4 mm, this was below the January average of 86.9  mm.
  • At Norfolk Island Aero, mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were 0.9 °C and 0.1 °C above average for January, respectively.
  • The January rainfall total at Lord Howe Island Aero was 34.4 mm, this was very much below the January average of 104.1 mm.
  • At Lord Howe Island Aero, the mean maximum temperature was 0.3 °C above average and the mean minimum temperature was 0.5 °C below average.

Australia's Antarctic and sub-Antarctic territories

  • The strongest wind gust recorded at the Australian Antarctic stations during January was 137 km/h at Casey on the 14th and 19th.
  • Both mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures for January were above average at Australian Antarctic stations.
  • Mawson had its highest January mean minimum temperature since 1993 at -1.8 °C. The station also recorded its highest January mean temperature since 1992 at 0.8 °C.
  • January precipitation at Macquarie Island was above average, with a total precipitation of 110.4 mm, compared to the January average of 88.9 mm.
  • The mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures at Macquarie Island were 1.3 °C and 1.1 °C above average, respectively.
  • Macquarie Island set several records in January, including its equal highest January mean maximum temperature since 2002 at 10.0 °C, its highest January mean minimum temperature since 2002 at 6.4 °C and its equal highest January mean temperature since 2002 at 8.3 °C.
  • The strongest wind gust recorded in January at Macquarie Island was 106 km/h on the 6th, 13th and 14th.

Record highest January temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Average for
January
Cocos Island Airport 33.1 on the 27th 32.7 on 17 Jan 2024 73 29.8



Record highest January mean maximum temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Average for
January
Cocos Island Airport 31.2 31.1 in 2024 73 29.8



Highest January mean maximum temperature for at least 20 years
Observed
(°C)
Most recent
higher
Average for
January
Macquarie Island 10.1 =10.1 in 2002 8.8

note: there may be gaps in the historical record at some sites, so it is possible more recent higher values have gone unreported




Record highest January mean minimum temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Average for
January
Cocos Island Airport 26.1 26.0 in 2016 73 24.9



Highest January mean minimum temperature for at least 20 years
Observed
(°C)
Most recent
higher
Average for
January
Mawson -1.8 -1.7 in 1993 -2.7
Macquarie Island 6.4 6.5 in 2002 5.3

note: there may be gaps in the historical record at some sites, so it is possible more recent higher values have gone unreported




Record highest January mean temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Average for
January
Cocos Island Airport 28.6 28.5 in 2024 73 27.4



Highest January mean temperature for at least 20 years
Observed
(°C)
Most recent
higher
Average for
January
Mawson 0.8 1.0 in 1992 -0.1
Macquarie Island 8.3 =8.3 in 2002 7.1

note: there may be gaps in the historical record at some sites, so it is possible more recent higher values have gone unreported





Summary statistics for January 2025
Maximum temperatures
(°C)
Minimum temperatures
(°C)
Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
January
2025
Diff
from
average
Highest for
January
2025
Mean for
January
2025
Diff
from
average
Lowest for
January
2025
Total for
January
2025
Average
for
January
Rank of
January
2025
Fraction of
January
average
Offshore Islands
Lord Howe Island Aero 25.8 +0.3 27.1 31st 20.3 -0.5 15.6 6th 34.4 104.1 low 33%
Norfolk Island Aero 25.5 +0.9 27.9 24th 19.3 +0.1 16.5 9th 25.4 86.9 low 29%
Christmas Island Aero 28.6 +0.5 29.9 26th 23.1 +0.3 21.2 25th 383.4 290.1 high 132%
Cocos Island Airport 31.2 +1.4 33.1 27th 26.1 +1.2 23.5 10th 8.8 165.3 v low 5%
Antarctica and Macquarie Island
Casey 3.1 +0.8 6.4 14th -1.4 +1.1 -5.5 10th 0.6 9.9 lowest 6%
Davis 4.6 +1.4 8.0 16th -0.3 +0.9 -3.3 26th 0.0 1.8 lowest 0%
Macquarie Island 10.1 +1.3 12.0 24th 6.4 +1.1 3.7 7th 110.4 88.9 high 124%
Mawson 3.3 +0.8 5.9 20th -1.8 +0.9 -5.0 3rd

Daily maximum temperatures for January 2025
Offshore Islands 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Lord Howe Island Aero 26.0 25.7 24.5 23.9 24.5 25.0 25.2 26.0 25.7 25.8 25.8 25.4 25.7 26.2 26.2 26.9 26.7 25.1 24.7 24.9 25.9 25.9 26.5 26.6 25.9 25.8 26.0 26.6 26.6 27.1 27.1
Norfolk Island Aero 24.5 25.3 24.0 24.7 24.8 24.9 24.9 24.6 25.2 24.8 25.1 25.5 26.1 25.1 21.9 25.9 25.4 26.2 26.5 24.8 25.7 27.3 27.9 27.5 26.3 25.1 25.8 25.4 27.1 27.2
Christmas Island Aero 28.1 29.0 28.7 29.1 28.2 29.7 28.6 26.5 27.8 28.0 28.5 28.2 29.6 29.3 28.6 29.6 29.8 29.7 29.2 27.1 27.3 28.0 29.4 29.1 29.9 29.6 28.6 28.0 27.3 27.1
Cocos Island Airport 30.7 30.4 30.5 31.7 32.7 31.1 30.9 31.4 30.7 30.9 30.7 30.9 30.3 31.3 32.0 30.6 30.7 30.8 30.9 30.6 30.8 30.6 30.8 32.1 32.0 32.5 33.1 32.8 30.1
Antarctica and Macquarie Island 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Casey 0.7 1.0 1.4 0.0 0.9 0.8 2.3 2.3 1.3 3.8 6.0 4.0 5.0 6.4 4.7 5.2 4.4 5.8 5.7 5.7 2.1 4.7 1.5 2.8 4.4 3.2 2.5 3.5 0.2 1.1 2.3
Davis 2.6 2.7 2.9 4.6 3.3 2.8 6.5 6.7 3.7 3.9 3.1 4.7 7.5 7.5 8.0 8.0 6.3 5.6 5.3 6.2 5.6 6.1 3.0 4.9 2.6 2.3 4.6 4.3 2.2 1.5 2.2
Macquarie Island 10.0 10.7 10.5 8.9 11.2 8.9 8.0 10.0 9.2 11.7 10.4 9.5 10.3 9.3 10.0 11.1 11.0 11.2 10.7 8.2 10.3 9.6 9.6 12.0 9.7 9.4 9.9 10.5 10.6 9.9 9.6
Mawson 2.5 1.4 1.4 3.4 4.5 1.5 2.3 3.5 2.3 2.9 2.9 2.6 3.7 5.0 3.7 4.6 4.3 5.5 5.7 5.9 2.4 3.4 4.5 4.2 3.2 3.4 3.9 2.2 2.7 1.8 2.2
Values are the maximum temperature, usually in the 24 hours from 9 am on the day indicated,
and typically occurred in the afternoon of that day.
Temperatures coloured according to their difference
from the long-term average for the period
-10.0 -9.0 -8.0 -7.0 -6.0 -5.0 -4.0 -3.0 -2.0 -1.0 0.0 +1.0 +2.0 +3.0 +4.0 +5.0 +6.0 +7.0 +8.0 +9.0 +10.0 °C Grey outline marks highest
and lowest for the period

Daily minimum temperatures for January 2025
Offshore Islands 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Lord Howe Island Aero 16.0 17.9 21.7 19.7 19.3 15.6 18.1 17.2 21.2 22.0 21.5 20.7 20.0 20.2 21.2 22.5 21.9 21.4 20.9 19.2 20.4 23.0 17.7 20.6 21.2 17.4 18.4 22.4 23.4 22.8 22.5
Norfolk Island Aero 17.4 16.7 17.9 19.3 19.2 18.4 19.0 18.1 16.5 19.2 18.5 18.0 19.2 18.8 19.6 18.7 19.7 20.0 20.9 20.0 19.5 19.1 20.2 22.7 21.5 20.5 19.9 20.2 19.2 21.1
Christmas Island Aero 23.8 23.4 24.6 23.8 23.4 22.9 24.0 22.7 22.8 22.6 22.6 23.2 23.8 23.1 23.1 23.9 24.3 23.7 23.4 22.4 22.6 23.1 21.8 21.2 21.4 23.1 22.7 24.9 23.9 22.8
Cocos Island Airport 25.3 26.9 26.3 26.4 26.9 26.9 27.1 26.8 26.7 23.5 26.4 26.2 26.3 26.0 25.4 26.0 25.0 26.7 26.9 26.3 26.7 25.0 25.3 24.9 26.3 25.0 27.0 25.7 25.5
Antarctica and Macquarie Island 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Casey -3.8 -1.3 -1.5 -1.5 -1.8 -1.6 -1.6 -3.9 -2.5 -5.5 -4.1 -0.8 -1.9 0.2 2.2 1.5 0.8 -0.2 2.5 2.5 -1.7 -1.6 -1.1 -2.0 -3.3 -1.5 -0.2 -0.2 -3.2 -5.4 -2.0
Davis -3.2 -1.6 -2.7 -1.5 -1.0 -1.5 -0.4 1.8 0.3 0.5 -1.6 -0.7 0.7 1.5 2.1 2.8 3.4 -0.3 0.3 -0.6 0.9 0.5 0.9 -1.2 -2.4 -3.3 -0.9 0.4 -0.2 -0.1 -2.3
Macquarie Island 6.5 6.4 6.3 5.9 7.7 5.0 3.7 4.6 7.0 6.5 6.0 8.4 6.1 6.6 7.5 8.7 7.7 7.1 7.9 6.4 4.4 7.8 4.7 5.7 7.8 5.7 4.9 6.4 6.3 7.3 6.8
Mawson -4.3 -4.1 -5.0 -2.2 -1.4 -2.8 -1.1 -2.0 -1.0 -0.8 -1.8 -1.8 -1.6 -0.8 1.1 1.2 0.5 0.4 0.5 -3.4 0.1 -0.1 -0.5 -2.5 -3.2 -4.5 -3.1 -4.5 -2.2 -2.0 -1.7
Values are the minimum temperature, usually in the 24 hours to 9 am on the day indicated,
and typically occurred that morning.
Temperatures coloured according to their difference
from the long-term average for the period
-10.0 -9.0 -8.0 -7.0 -6.0 -5.0 -4.0 -3.0 -2.0 -1.0 0.0 +1.0 +2.0 +3.0 +4.0 +5.0 +6.0 +7.0 +8.0 +9.0 +10.0 °C Grey outline marks highest
and lowest for the period

Daily rainfall for January 2025
Offshore Islands 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Lord Howe Island (Milky Way) - - 0.8 - - - - - - - - - - 0.4 - 0.4 0.4 13.4 8.0 0.8 1.2 1.2 2.8 2.4 3.0 - - - - - -
Lord Howe Island Aero - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.2 1.6 - 0.4 9.2 4.6 4.4 - 3.8 9.0 0.2 - - - - -
Norfolk Island Aero - - - - - - - - - - 0.2 - - - 1.0 21.4 2.0 - - - 0.2 - - 0.2 - - - - 0.4
Christmas Island Aero 13.2 0.6 - 10.4 19.2 15.8 0.4 59.0 9.2 10.0 6.4 6.2 - - - - 0.2 - - 72.0 24.4 5.6 5.2 - - 0.2 48.8 20.8 17.6 38.2
Cocos Island Airport - - - - - - - 0.2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6.8 0.4 1.4
Antarctica and Macquarie Island 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Casey - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 0.2 - - - - - - - - - 0.4 - - - -
Davis - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Macquarie Island 1.2 8.6 3.8 0.4 5.8 - 21.4 2.0 - 3.2 - 6.4 3.4 - 3.4 4.2 4.4 0.2 3.4 4.0 1.4 2.8 1.4 - 2.2 5.4 5.0 9.0 0.8 4.6 2.0
Most values are the precipitation in the 24 hours to 9 am on the day indicated. Days marked with → are part of a longer accumulation, which is shown on the final day.
Values over 100 mm have been rounded to the nearest whole millimetre.
Days marked with - have a rainfall report of zero; days left blank have no rainfall report (which often indicates no rain fell).
Rainfalls coloured
according to the amount
0 1.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 25.0 50.0 100 150 200 300 400 600 millimetres

Map of the areas covered by this summary

Notes

The Monthly 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 Sunday 2 February 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.

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