Australian Capital Territory in summer 2026

Rainfall

  • Rainfall totals for summer were below average at all sites across Australian Capital Territory.
  • Summer rainfall totals ranged from around 53 % to around 75 % of average across the Territory.
  • The wettest day was 45.4 mm at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on 26 Feb 2026.
  • The wettest over all was 189.6 mm at Mount Ginini AWS.

Temperature

  • Mean maximum temperatures for summer at all sites across the Territory were above average.
  • Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS had its hottest summer day (highest daily maximum temperature) on record.
  • Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS also had its coldest summer night (lowest daily minimum temperature) on record.
  • Summer mean maximum temperatures for the Territory ranged from 1.2 °C above average at Mount Ginini AWS to 1.7 °C above average at Canberra Airport.
  • The warmest day was 43.5 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on 28 Jan 2026.
  • The coldest day was 7.3 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on 1 Dec 2025.
  • Mean minimum temperatures for summer at all sites across the Territory were below average.
  • Summer mean minimum temperatures for the Territory ranged from 0.1 °C below average at Mount Ginini AWS to 0.5 °C below average at Canberra Airport and Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS.
  • The warmest night was 24.7 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on 10 Jan 2026.
  • The coldest night was -2.7 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on 2 Dec 2025.

Canberra Airport

  • Total rainfall for Canberra Airport was 105.2 mm, which is 53% of the long-term average at the current site of 198.2 mm.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Canberra Airport was 30.1 °C, which is 1.7 °C above the long-term average at the current site of 28.4 °C.
  • The warmest day was 42.6 °C on 28 January 2026, and the coolest day was on 1 December 2025 when the temperature reached 19.0 °C.
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Canberra Airport was 12.7 °C, which is 0.5 °C below the long-term average at the current site of 13.2 °C.
  • The coldest morning was -0.3 °C on 2 December 2025, and the warmest morning was on 10 January 2026 when the minimum temperature was 22.9 °C.

Extremes in summer 2026
Hottest day 43.5 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on 28 Jan 2026
Warmest days on average 30.0 °C at Canberra Airport
Coolest days on average 20.3 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Coldest day 7.3 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on 1 Dec 2025
Coldest night -2.7 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on 2 Dec 2025
Coolest nights on average 8.6 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Warmest nights on average 13.2 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Warmest night 24.7 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on 10 Jan 2026
Warmest on average overall 21.4 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Coolest on average overall 14.4 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest overall 189.6 mm at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest day 45.4 mm at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on 26 Feb 2026
Strongest wind gust 81.0 km/h at Mount Ginini AWS on 21 Dec 2025

Record highest summer temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Average for
Summer
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 43.5 on 28 Jan 2026 43.3 on 04 Jan 2020 31 28.2



Record lowest summer temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Average for
Summer
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 1.2 on 2 Dec 2025 =1.2 on 27 Dec 2001 31 13.7




Summary statistics for summer 2026
Maximum temperatures
(°C)
Minimum temperatures
(°C)
Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
Summer
2026
Diff
from
average
Highest for
Summer
2026
Mean for
Summer
2026
Diff
from
average
Lowest for
Summer
2026
Total for
Summer
2026
Average
for
Summer
Rank of
Summer
2026
Fraction of
Summer
average
Canberra Airport 30.1 +1.7 42.6 28 Jan 2026 12.7 -0.5 -0.3 2 Dec 2025 105.2 198.2 low 53%
Mount Ginini AWS 20.4 +1.2 32.9 28 Jan 2026 8.6 -0.1 -2.7 2 Dec 2025 189.6 302.9 low 63%
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 29.7 +1.5 43.5 28 Jan 2026 13.2 -0.5 1.2 2 Dec 2025 154.8 206.0 low 75%

Notes

The Seasonal climate summary, usually published in the first week of the following month, lists the main features of the weather in Australian Capital Territory 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 Monday 2 March 2026. 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, excluding the current year. The length of record can vary widely from site to site. Averages are not shown for sites with fewer 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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