Remote Islands and Antarctica in January 2026

Australia's Indian Ocean islands

  • The monthly rainfall total at Christmas Island Aero was 416.2 mm, this was above the average January rainfall of 292.0 mm. This was the highest January rainfall for the station since 2012.
  • At Christmas Island Aero, both the mean maximum and minimum temperatures were 0.1 °C above average.
  • The monthly rainfall total at Cocos Island Airport was 123.0 mm, this was just below the average January rainfall of 164.4 mm.
  • At Cocos Island Airport, the mean maximum temperature was 0.7 °C above average and the mean minimum temperature was 0.4 °C above average.
  • On the 1st, Cocos Island Airport had its equal coldest January night on record at 21.0 °C.

Australia's Pacific Ocean islands

  • The January rainfall total at Norfolk Island Aero was 322.6 mm, this is well above the January average rainfall total of 86.5 mm. This was the second-highest January rainfall total on record for the station, behind 1959 at 339.5 mm.
  • Tropical low 14U passed close to Norfolk Island on the 21st and brought several days of rainfall. In the 48 hours to 9am on the 21st, the station recorded 260.0 mm, this was the highest 2-day rainfall total on record for January.
  • At Norfolk Island the mean maximum temperature was 1.1 °C above average and the mean minimum temperature was 0.9 °C above average.
  • The monthly rainfall total at Lord Howe Island Aero was 21.8 mm, this was very low compared to the January average rainfall of 102.6 mm.
  • At Lord Howe Island Aero, both the mean maximum and minimum temperatures were 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 167 km/h at Casey on the afternoon of the 22nd.
  • The January mean maximum temperature amd minimum temperatures were above average at all Australian Antarctic stations.
  • Monthly precipitation at Macquarie Island was 77.2 mm, this was just below the January average rainfall of 89.2 mm.
  • At Macquarie Island, the mean maximum and minimum temperatures were 0.3 °C and 0.2 °C above average, respectively.
  • The strongest wind gust recorded at Macquarie Island during January was 94 km/h on the evening of the 30th.

Highest January total rainfall for at least 20 years
Observed
(mm)
Most recent
higher
Average for
January
Norfolk Island Aero 322.6 339.5 in 1959 88.3

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




Record lowest January temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Average for
January
Cocos Island Airport 21.0 on the 1st =21.0 on 02 Jan 2007 74 24.9




Summary statistics for January 2026
Maximum temperatures
(°C)
Minimum temperatures
(°C)
Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
January
2026
Diff
from
average
Highest for
January
2026
Mean for
January
2026
Diff
from
average
Lowest for
January
2026
Total for
January
2026
Average
for
January
Rank of
January
2026
Fraction of
January
average
Offshore Islands
Lord Howe Island Aero 25.0 -0.5 27.0 26th 20.3 -0.5 14.8 25th 21.8 102.6 low 21%
Norfolk Island Aero 25.7 +1.1 27.8 15th 20.1 +0.9 16.3 1st 322.6 86.5 high 373%
Christmas Island Aero 28.2 +0.1 30.6 6th 22.9 +0.1 21.2 18th 416.2 292.0 high 142%
Cocos Island Airport 30.5 +0.7 31.4 13th 25.3 +0.4 21.0 1st 123.0 164.4 average 75%
Antarctica and Macquarie Island
Casey 3.2 +0.9 6.7 19th -1.4 +1.1 -4.6 12th 13.5 9.6 high 141%
Davis 3.9 +0.7 8.5 2nd -0.4 +0.8 -3.6 19th 11.1 1.8 highest 617%
Macquarie Island 9.1 +0.3 11.8 19th 5.6 +0.2 3.6 31st 77.2 89.2 average 86%
Mawson 3.1 +0.6 7.2 3rd -2.2 +0.5 -6.3 19th

Daily maximum temperatures for January 2026
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 23.7 23.0 23.9 23.9 24.7 24.9 24.8 24.7 25.9 25.8 26.7 26.7 26.3 25.3 24.6 25.4 25.5 23.1 24.8 24.5 24.2 25.7 23.6 24.1 25.4 27.0 26.3 24.2 25.3 24.8 25.4
Norfolk Island Aero 25.1 25.3 24.3 24.1 25.3 25.6 25.7 25.5 25.4 26.4 27.0 27.3 27.2 26.6 27.8 26.9 26.0 26.5 25.0 25.5 26.2 26.5 26.3 24.6 24.7 25.0 25.8 24.9 26.8 23.4 25.1
Christmas Island Aero 28.0 28.5 28.0 27.4 28.6 30.6 29.6 29.8 29.9 29.4 28.8 28.4 28.3 28.7 28.7 29.7 29.0 29.1 28.4 25.7 28.1 27.6 27.2 26.0 28.3 27.7 25.2 25.7 25.8 27.9 29.0
Cocos Island Airport 29.5 30.2 29.5 30.3 27.9 30.3 29.8 30.8 31.1 30.2 31.0 30.9 31.4 31.0 30.5 30.5 30.6 30.9 30.9 30.7 30.7 30.5 30.9 30.7 30.8 30.7 30.7 30.5 30.6 30.5 29.8
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 4.4 3.2 3.7 3.6 2.7 4.2 -0.1 0.9 1.7 1.3 1.9 1.8 1.6 1.5 1.9 3.6 5.1 3.8 6.7 5.4 3.9 4.0 3.0 5.6 5.6 5.3 4.5 4.8 0.5 1.0 1.0
Davis 6.9 8.5 5.2 7.9 4.6 4.5 3.1 4.7 3.8 2.3 2.8 4.1 2.0 1.3 3.1 4.0 1.4 1.7 7.1 5.4 6.9 5.2 4.2 2.3 2.1 2.4 3.8 0.1 2.0 4.0 3.0
Macquarie Island 10.4 8.7 10.0 8.4 8.4 8.5 9.0 9.7 9.5 9.1 8.8 9.3 8.3 9.2 8.8 9.6 8.8 10.5 11.8 10.0 9.0 5.8 6.9 9.3 7.6 11.1 9.2 9.1 9.4 9.7 8.9
Mawson 4.8 5.1 7.2 3.9 3.1 3.8 1.1 2.4 3.6 5.2 3.3 3.3 4.7 2.1 2.4 0.7 1.2 1.5 2.4 3.2 3.2 2.0 3.4 0.0 5.1 3.0 5.9 1.6 3.7 1.6
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 2026
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 20.1 19.3 17.1 17.9 20.3 19.5 20.3 20.5 21.6 22.4 22.6 20.8 22.9 21.1 20.1 21.3 21.5 20.8 20.6 20.4 20.3 20.8 20.3 19.0 14.8 16.3 22.0 20.4 21.8 21.6 20.9
Norfolk Island Aero 16.3 16.6 18.6 17.4 17.0 19.0 20.1 20.8 20.5 19.3 21.5 19.4 22.2 23.0 22.2 21.2 22.9 21.2 21.6 20.3 22.1 21.7 21.5 20.2 18.9 19.7 17.9 19.1 19.7 22.3 20.3
Christmas Island Aero 22.3 21.5 23.1 22.5 22.2 22.6 24.6 24.0 23.9 24.3 24.7 23.7 24.2 23.6 23.0 23.1 23.0 21.2 23.2 22.8 23.4 22.8 22.7 22.4 22.8 21.7 21.6 22.3 22.5 22.6 22.2
Cocos Island Airport 21.0 23.1 25.8 25.7 24.8 24.4 26.2 25.3 24.5 26.1 24.2 26.4 26.1 26.3 26.4 25.7 25.2 25.7 24.8 25.2 25.5 25.1 25.9 26.4 26.0 25.4 26.5 24.2 25.3 26.3 24.5
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 0.9 0.1 -0.7 -1.0 -1.7 -3.0 -2.6 -3.4 -3.7 -3.8 -3.1 -4.6 -2.1 -1.6 -1.3 -1.7 -2.8 -1.9 0.8 1.0 -0.9 -0.4 -1.2 0.1 -0.1 0.9 -0.3 1.0 -1.3 -3.8 -2.2
Davis -0.2 1.7 2.0 1.8 1.8 -0.3 -2.4 0.1 1.7 0.5 -0.2 0.3 -1.4 -1.1 -0.9 -0.5 -1.2 -3.2 -3.6 1.0 0.8 2.1 0.0 -1.8 -1.4 -0.8 0.4 -2.9 -2.5 -1.5 -0.1
Macquarie Island 6.8 5.5 5.8 6.7 5.4 6.7 6.7 6.6 5.5 4.3 4.1 4.5 4.2 4.7 5.3 5.6 6.9 6.3 6.9 7.6 7.8 4.6 4.3 4.5 4.5 4.9 7.2 7.8 4.2 5.0 3.6
Mawson -3.4 -1.1 0.4 -0.5 -2.1 -1.9 -0.6 -2.1 -0.1 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.4 -2.8 -5.4 -4.6 -2.5 -4.5 -6.3 -4.7 -2.3 -3.2 0.1 -2.9 -3.0 -3.5 -0.6 -3.4 -2.2 -5.3
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 2026
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) - - 2.6 - - 5.8 - - - - - 0.8 - - - - 2.0 1.2 0.4 - - 0.2 8.0 - - - - - - - -
Lord Howe Island Aero - - 4.8 - 0.2 5.6 0.2 - - - - - - 0.8 - - 1.4 2.0 0.6 - 0.4 5.8 - - - - - - -
Norfolk Island Aero 1.0 - - - 0.2 0.2 - - - - - - - - - 0.4 - 2.0 - 93.6 166.4 28.6 - - - - 0.2 15.0 6.4 - 8.6
Christmas Island Aero 93.4 - 0.4 19.6 14.2 4.2 - - 0.6 - - - 1.6 4.2 5.0 0.8 0.4 - 0.2 5.2 2.2 2.8 1.4 43.6 12.4 2.8 45.4 86.8 37.2 28.8 3.0
Cocos Island Airport - - - 19.4 70.2 - 0.4 0.2 - 4.0 1.0 0.4 0.8 - - - 4.0 1.4 2.4 6.4 2.0 - - 7.6 0.2 2.6 - - -
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 - - 0.6 0.4 - - - - - - - - 0.2 - 2.6 - - - - - - 6.3 1.4 2.0 - - - - - -
Davis - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 0.9 2.8 - - - 7.4 -
Macquarie Island 0.2 0.2 - 8.6 5.2 3.8 - 2.8 3.6 2.0 0.2 1.2 2.6 0.4 0.2 - 2.0 0.6 - - 0.2 18.6 2.6 - 0.2 0.2 0.8 12.8 3.0 3.2 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 1 February 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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