Remote Islands and Antarctica in April 2026

Australia's Indian Ocean islands

  • Christmas Island Aero monthly rainfall total was 268.4 mm, which was 116% of the April average rainfall of 231.9 mm.
  • At Christmas Island Aero, the mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were 0.2 °C and 0.6 °C above the April average, respectively.
  • The monthly rainfall total at Cocos Island Airport was 322.2 mm, which was 133% of the April average rainfall of 242.7 mm. In the 24 hours to 9 am on the 29th, the station recorded 109.8 mm, the highest April daily rainfall for the station since 2019.
  • At Cocos Island Airport, the mean maximum and minimum temperatures were 0.6 °C and 0.5 °C above the April average, respectively.

Australia's Pacific Ocean islands

  • Norfolk Island Aero recorded a monthly rainfall total of just 18.0 mm. This is very much below the April average of 122.8 mm and the lowest April rainfall for the station since 1993.
  • At Norfolk Island Aero, both the mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were 0.7 °C above the April average.
  • The monthly rainfall total at Lord Howe Island Aero was 71.8 mm. This was below the April average rainfall of 144.7 mm. and the lowest April rainfall for the station since 2020
  • At Lord Howe Island Aero, both the mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were 0.3 °C above the April average.

Australia's Antarctic and sub-Antarctic territories

  • The strongest wind gust recorded at the Australian Antarctic stations during April was 185 km/h at Casey on the evening of 17th, and the highest daily wind gust in April since 2006
  • During April mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were above average at all the Australian Antarctic stations.
  • Monthly precipitation at Macquarie Island was 87.8 mm, which was below the April average rainfall of 95.6 mm.
  • The mean maximum and mean minimum temperature at Macquarie Island were 0.7 °C and 1.3 °C above the April average respectively.
  • The strongest wind gust recorded in April at Macquarie Island was 109 km/h on the afternoon of 25th.


Summary statistics for April 2026
Maximum temperatures
(°C)
Minimum temperatures
(°C)
Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
April
2026
Diff
from
average
Highest for
April
2026
Mean for
April
2026
Diff
from
average
Lowest for
April
2026
Total for
April
2026
Average
for
April
Rank of
April
2026
Fraction of
April
average
Offshore Islands
Lord Howe Island Aero 23.7 +0.3 26.9 8th 18.5 +0.3 13.4 7th 71.8 144.7 low 50%
Norfolk Island Aero 23.5 +0.7 25.0 13th 18.6 +0.7 15.7 23rd 18.0 122.8 v low 15%
Christmas Island Aero 28.6 +0.2 30.2 10th 24.2 +0.6 22.5 5th 268.4 231.9 average 116%
Cocos Island Airport 30.5 +0.6 32.5 17th 25.9 +0.5 24.3 22nd 322.2 242.7 high 133%
Antarctica and Macquarie Island
Casey -2.9 +4.9 1.8 8th -7.9 +6.9 -13.1 1st 24.0 21.3 average 113%
Davis -8.3 +2.0 1.0 10th -14.1 +2.1 -26.5 29th 3.4 9.7 low 35%
Macquarie Island 7.7 +0.7 9.8 8th 5.1 +1.3 1.6 20th 87.8 95.6 average 92%
Mawson -9.2 +2.5 -0.8 10th -15.4 +2.0 -23.3 29th

Daily maximum temperatures for April 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
Lord Howe Island Aero 24.3 24.2 24.9 25.3 24.2 22.6 25.4 26.9 25.4 25.6 26.2 24.8 23.7 23.6 24.3 25.6 25.9 22.5 21.5 21.3 20.6 21.9 21.9 22.8 21.9 22.2 22.2 22.8 23.1 22.8
Norfolk Island Aero 23.4 25.0 24.1 25.0 25.0 24.6 23.7 23.5 23.7 23.9 23.7 25.0 25.0 24.8 23.8 23.7 23.0 24.9 24.2 22.2 22.7 22.6 22.7 21.9 21.2 21.8 21.2 22.5 22.9 22.2
Christmas Island Aero 29.4 28.6 27.9 29.0 27.2 27.4 28.2 28.1 28.6 30.2 29.6 29.0 29.6 26.9 29.0 29.0 28.3 28.9 28.8 27.4 28.3 28.1 29.5 29.5 28.8 28.9 29.0 28.5 27.8 28.4
Cocos Island Airport 31.5 30.9 30.8 30.2 30.7 30.4 30.4 32.1 31.4 32.1 29.9 30.7 29.9 29.0 29.2 31.0 32.5 28.7 30.0 30.4 30.0 29.5 30.4 30.2 31.0 30.4 30.6 30.0 29.9 29.9
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
Casey -3.5 -3.4 -3.2 -4.0 -1.8 -1.3 -0.1 1.8 -1.5 -4.7 -4.6 -3.0 -2.7 -2.6 -3.0 -3.8 -1.3 -0.7 -0.3 -1.2 -1.1 0.7 -3.9 -6.6 -4.7 -2.8 -2.4 -4.2 -7.0 -11.2
Davis -14.6 -9.3 -7.2 -7.6 -9.9 -9.7 -10.9 -2.4 0.6 1.0 -0.2 -5.4 -8.6 -3.9 -9.3 -4.9 -4.5 -8.0 -10.4 -9.0 -6.7 -5.0 -8.0 -11.1 -12.0 -14.3 -12.1 -19.3 -15.0 -10.7
Macquarie Island 8.9 9.0 8.3 7.6 8.1 7.8 9.0 9.8 8.1 9.4 7.4 7.3 6.2 5.9 5.3 7.3 7.4 6.0 5.0 7.4 7.5 8.6 8.6 8.5 7.1 7.7 7.9 8.0 8.3 8.4
Mawson -8.1 -8.8 -9.4 -9.8 -10.8 -12.6 -6.1 -7.7 -3.6 -0.8 -1.9 -3.9 -8.4 -7.9 -7.6 -8.8 -11.3 -12.1 -12.0 -11.2 -11.6 -6.6 -4.0 -6.1 -12.7 -16.1 -18.8 -19.2 -9.2 -8.6
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 April 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
Lord Howe Island Aero 20.1 19.9 20.3 18.0 20.1 18.6 13.4 18.7 20.3 21.6 21.1 19.8 18.9 19.2 20.4 14.9 21.9 17.1 17.3 16.6 16.1 16.4 16.4 16.3 18.8 17.7 17.3 19.1 18.1 19.9
Norfolk Island Aero 19.7 19.7 19.8 19.9 20.2 21.0 20.0 19.7 19.3 19.6 19.7 19.7 19.3 18.2 19.0 16.5 16.9 17.1 18.6 17.9 16.6 16.7 15.7 16.8 17.3 17.4 18.0 18.2 19.3 19.2
Christmas Island Aero 24.0 23.9 24.5 24.1 22.5 23.3 23.4 23.8 22.8 23.7 23.7 24.7 25.4 24.9 23.4 23.9 25.4 24.9 24.3 25.5 23.1 25.2 23.6 24.5 24.7 25.8 25.1 25.3 23.3 23.5
Cocos Island Airport 25.6 27.0 27.2 25.8 26.1 27.3 25.8 24.3 26.5 26.0 25.7 27.1 24.9 26.3 24.7 24.7 26.1 24.9 24.4 27.1 26.9 24.3 26.0 26.4 26.5 25.0 26.8 26.3 24.7 26.2
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
Casey -13.1 -7.0 -7.2 -7.5 -8.7 -7.7 -6.5 -9.0 -7.3 -10.6 -7.1 -7.2 -6.5 -6.1 -7.1 -10.8 -9.7 -7.6 -4.9 -4.8 -4.3 -3.4 -5.8 -10.3 -11.0 -8.7 -6.3 -7.1 -12.2 -11.4
Davis -18.6 -18.7 -15.5 -13.2 -12.0 -11.8 -16.4 -16.6 -10.9 -2.6 -1.8 -7.5 -9.4 -13.8 -13.0 -14.5 -12.3 -9.9 -13.8 -13.5 -16.2 -16.1 -12.2 -14.1 -16.8 -16.6 -18.5 -19.6 -26.5 -20.8
Macquarie Island 3.5 7.0 6.9 3.1 4.0 6.8 6.2 7.5 6.6 4.4 5.8 4.7 5.5 5.2 3.3 3.4 4.0 5.4 2.1 1.6 4.9 6.4 6.8 7.7 7.1 5.1 5.8 5.9 3.4 4.1
Mawson -14.3 -14.0 -15.6 -14.8 -15.9 -17.3 -17.7 -17.6 -9.8 -9.2 -6.0 -7.2 -9.2 -14.0 -12.9 -11.4 -15.0 -18.9 -17.2 -17.3 -17.3 -17.8 -16.3 -11.1 -15.9 -17.9 -22.5 -23.2 -23.3 -20.3
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 April 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
Lord Howe Island (Milky Way) - 2.8 - - - 1.2 - - - - - 14.8 1.6 0.8 - 0.4 - 15.0 0.2 4.0 4.0 1.0 5.8 10.2 0.2 2.0 0.2 2.0 3.0 0.6
Lord Howe Island Aero - 0.2 0.2 0.8 1.0 0.2 - - - - - 20.2 0.8 0.2 - 3.0 - 12.2 0.8 3.2 6.4 2.6 1.2 11.0 - 1.2 - 0.6 6.0 -
Norfolk Island Aero - - 0.8 6.4 0.4 - - - - - 0.4 - - - 0.8 - - 1.0 1.8 - 1.0 1.8 - - 0.2 0.8 - 2.4 - 0.2
Christmas Island Aero 2.0 1.8 0.2 4.8 63.6 1.6 0.4 15.8 42.2 1.2 0.2 1.6 - - 29.0 3.4 - 1.8 3.8 0.2 67.0 1.0 5.2 0.6 3.0 - - - 17.6 0.4
Cocos Island Airport 4.4 4.0 0.6 0.8 - - 1.6 11.4 - 2.6 12.0 - 10.2 0.2 12.2 20.4 12.2 39.6 37.2 - - 13.4 2.2 2.6 0.2 6.8 1.4 3.0 109.8 13.4
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
Casey 8.0 - - - 0.2 - - - - - 2.6 1.8 1.6 - 1.0 - - - - 0.8 1.4 6.6 -
Davis - - - - - - - - 0.2 - 0.8 0.2 0.2 - 0.1 - 0.2 0.2 - - - - - - - - - 1.4 0.1 -
Macquarie Island 0.6 6.8 1.2 3.4 0.4 0.2 0.2 3.2 1.8 2.0 13.0 1.8 7.0 0.2 - - 8.0 7.4 0.4 0.4 1.4 0.4 0.4 1.6 3.4 2.0 1.0 0.2 17.8 1.6
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 Tuesday 5 May 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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