Climate of Mildura

Mildura, a small city of population twenty thousand, is located on the banks of the Murray River at an altitude of 50 m above sea level and is 550 km to the northwest of Melbourne.

The city's climate may be classified as warm persistently dry grassland.

The annual rainfall total of 292 mm is fairly evenly distributed through the year, but is more concentrated in the winter and spring months. The month of October is, on average, the year's wettest, receiving 31 mm. By contrast, the year's driest months, March and April, receive only 19 mm.

Thunderstorms are more frequent in spring and summer, when 9 of the year's 12 storms occur. By contrast, a thunderstorm affects Mildura only once every winter. Fog is predominantly an autumn-winter phenomenon, 11 of the year's 12 fogs occurring during those two seasons, including 4 in June, the most fog-prone month.

There are 122 clear days per annum, January, February and March (with respectively 15, 14 and 15 clear days, on average) being the months when clear skies are most common. There are 63 cloudy days per annum, May, June and July (each with 7 cloudy days) being the year's dullest months.

The annual average minimum temperature is 10.3 deg C, monthly values varying from 4.3 deg C during July (the lowest on record is -4.4 deg C) to 16.5 deg C during January. There are 4 nights per annum when the temperature falls below zero. The annual average maximum temperature is 23.6 deg C - monthly values vary from 15.2 deg C in July to 31.9 deg C in January (the highest on record is 50.8 deg C). There are, on average, 77 days per annum when the temperature exceeds 30 deg C, including 30 hot days when the temperature rises above 35 deg C.

The prevailing wind is southerly in summer, whilst in winter, the prevailing northerly wind in the morning tends westerly in the afternoon. Days with strong wind (21 per annum) are more likely to occur in the late winter and spring months than at other times of the year. During dry years, strong winds associated with cold fronts generate duststorms, particularly in spring and summer.