Greater Adelaide in summer 2026

Rainfall

  • Rainfall totals for summer were the lowest on record to below average at all sites across Adelaide and the Hills.
  • Summer rainfall totals ranged from 10% to 46% of average across Adelaide and the Hills.

Temperature

  • Mean maximum temperatures for summer at all sites across Adelaide and the Hills were above average.
  • Summer mean maximum temperatures for Adelaide and the Hills ranged from 0.8 °C above average at Kuitpo Forest Reserve to 3.6 °C above average at Mount Lofty.
  • Mean minimum temperatures for summer at all sites across Adelaide and the Hills were above average.
  • Summer mean minimum temperatures for Adelaide and the Hills ranged from 0.1 °C above average at Kuitpo Forest Reserve to 1.2 °C above average at Mount Barker.
  • Adelaide Airport M.O. had its highest summer mean maximum temperature for at least 20 years.

Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira)

  • Total rainfall for Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) was 17.8 mm, which is 27% of the long-term average of 66.7 mm.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) was 30.6 °C, which is 2.6 °C above the long-term average of 28.0 °C.
  • The warmest day was 44.7 °C on 26 January 2026, and the coolest day was on 1 December 2025 when the temperature reached 19.0 °C.
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) was 16.9 °C, which is 0.7 °C above the long-term average of 16.2 °C.
  • The coldest morning was 9.5 °C on 7 December 2025, and the warmest morning was on 8 January 2026 when the minimum temperature was 29.8 °C.

Extremes in summer 2026
Hottest day 45.6 °C at Edinburgh RAAF on 26 Jan 2026
Warmest days on average 31.8 °C at Parafield Airport
Coolest days on average 25.6 °C at Mount Lofty
Coldest day 13.0 °C at Mount Lofty on 1 Dec 2025
Coldest night 5.2 °C at Mount Lofty on 26 Dec 2025
Coolest nights on average 12.7 °C at Mount Lofty
12.7 °C at Mount Barker
Warmest nights on average 16.9 °C at Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira)
Warmest night 29.8 °C at Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) on 8 Jan 2026
Warmest on average overall 24.1 °C at Edinburgh RAAF
Coolest on average overall 19.2 °C at Mount Lofty
Wettest overall 28.4 mm at Edinburgh RAAF
Wettest day 20.2 mm at Halbury Road Salisbury (Halbury Road) on 28 Feb 2026
Strongest wind gust 80.0 km/h at Mount Crawford AWS on 21 Dec 2025

Highest summer mean maximum temperature for at least 20 years
Observed
(°C)
Most recent
higher
Average for
Summer
Adelaide Airport M.O. 29.4 30.1 in 2001 27.4

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 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
Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) 30.6 +2.6 44.7 26 Jan 2026 16.9 +0.7 9.5 7 Dec 2025 17.8 66.7 v low 27%
Adelaide Airport M.O. 29.4 +2.0 42.0 27 Jan 2026 16.8 +1.1 9.0 7 Dec 2025 9.2 60.0 v low 15%
Edinburgh RAAF 31.5 +2.1 45.6 26 Jan 2026 16.7 +0.7 9.3 7 Dec 2025 28.4 62.1 low 46%
Kuitpo Forest Reserve 26.1 +0.8 42.0 26 Jan 2026 13.8 +0.1 6.5 7 Dec 2025 14.2 87.1 lowest 16%
Mount Barker 28.6 +2.1 43.4 26 Jan 2026 12.7 +1.2 5.6 7 Dec 2025 15.0 86.8 v low 17%
Mount Crawford AWS 28.0 +1.4 42.5 26 Jan 2026 13.7 +0.3 5.9 26 Dec 2025 7.8 80.0 lowest 10%
Mount Lofty 25.7 +3.6 39.8 26 Jan 2026 12.7 +0.6 5.2 26 Dec 2025 21.8 120.3 lowest 18%
Noarlunga 29.0 +1.3 43.8 26 Jan 2026 16.7 +0.2 11.1 2 Dec 2025 11.2 56.3 lowest 20%
Parafield Airport 31.9 +2.8 45.5 26 Jan 2026 16.1 +0.2 7.4 7 Dec 2025 24.4 63.9 low 38%

Notes

The Seasonal climate summary, usually published in the first week of the following month, lists the main features of the weather in Greater Adelaide 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 Adelaide “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 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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