Climate Trends in Oceania

• In Oceania, the mean number of days with a daily maximum at or above 30 C (86 F) per year at 68 stations rose from 99.7 to 116.8 between the 1960s and the 2010s; the 2020s so far (6 years) average 115.4.
• In Oceania, the mean number of days with a daily maximum at or above 35 C (95 F) per year at 68 stations rose from 28.1 to 34.7 between the 1960s and the 2010s; the 2020s so far (6 years) average 34.5.
• In Oceania, the mean number of days with a daily maximum at or above 40 C (104 F) per year at 68 stations rose from 4.5 to 7.1 between the 1960s and the 2010s; the 2020s so far (6 years) average 6.6.
• In Oceania, the mean number of warm nights, with a daily minimum at or above 20 C (68 F) per year at 67 stations rose from 81.2 to 92.5 between the 1960s and the 2010s; the 2020s so far (6 years) average 93.3.
• In Oceania, the mean number of frost days, with a daily minimum at or below 0 C (32 F) per year at 67 stations fell from 4.6 to 4.2 between the 1960s and the 2010s; the 2020s so far (6 years) average 3.4.
• In Oceania, the mean number of ice days, with a daily maximum at or below 0 C (32 F) per year at 68 stations was 0.0 in both between the 1960s and the 2010s; the 2020s so far (6 years) average 0.0.

Each measure counts days in complete years only. A station is in a measure's set when it has complete years in every decade from the 1960s, so each chart compares the same places over time. A grey bar is a decade that is not over.

• In Oceania, annual rain at 1,917 stations is shown as a percent difference from each station's own 1961-1990 mean, for 75 years from 1951 to 2025.
• The trend in annual rain is +0.9 percent per decade (95 percent interval -1.3 to +3.1), fitted to 75 years from 1951 to 2025. The interval includes zero, so the series does not separate a trend from year to year variation.
• In Oceania, the share of a year's rain that fell in its wettest five days fell from 16.5 to 15.7 percent between the 1960s and the 2020s at 901 stations.
• In Oceania, the mean number of days with 25 mm (1.0 in) or more of rain per year rose from 5.46 to 6.68 between the 1960s and the 2020s.
• In Oceania, the mean number of days with 50 mm (2.0 in) or more of rain per year rose from 1.32 to 1.70 between the 1960s and the 2020s.
• In Oceania, the mean number of days with 100 mm (3.9 in) or more of rain per year rose from 0.21 to 0.29 between the 1960s and the 2020s.
• In Oceania, the mean longest dry spell of the year, in days with less than 1 mm of rain in a row, fell from 45.5 to 40.1 days between the 1960s and the 2020s, over the same 901 stations in every decade.

Annual rain against the 1961-1990 mean

The annual rain series uses stations with at least 50 complete years since 1951 and a 1961-1990 baseline. The decade charts use fixed sets of stations, the same in every decade from the 1960s. A dry day has less than 1 mm (0.04 in) of rain.

• In Oceania, the longest run of hot days in a row in the data is 200 days, at Marble Bar Comparison (Australia), from 5 October 1923 to 21 April 1924.
• In Oceania, the longest run of days in a row at or above 40 C in the data is 106 days, at Marble Bar Comparison (Australia), from 9 November 1921 to 22 February 1922.
• In Oceania, the longest run of frost days in a row in the data is 116 days, at Thredbo AWS (Australia), from 24 May 2000 to 16 September 2000.
• In Oceania, the longest run of ice days in a row in the data is 53 days, at Mount Hotham (Australia), from 7 July 2008 to 28 August 2008.
• In Oceania, the longest run of dry days in a row in the data is 350 days, at Ivanhoe (Mt Manara) (Australia), in 1902.
• In Oceania, the longest run of wet days in a row in the data is 184 days, at Tofol (Federated States of Micronesia), in 2018.
• In Oceania, the longest run of longest run of nights at or above 25 c in the data is 188 days, at Kwajalein (Marshall Islands), from 19 November 2023 to 24 May 2024.

Longest run of days at or above 35 C

Consecutive days with a daily maximum at or above 35 C (95 F).

Longest run of days at or above 40 C

Consecutive days with a daily maximum at or above 40 C (104 F).

Longest run of frost days (minimum at or below 0 C)

Consecutive days with a daily minimum at or below 0 C (32 F).

Longest run of ice days (maximum at or below 0 C)

Consecutive days with a daily maximum at or below 0 C (32 F).

Longest dry spell (days under 1 mm of rain), within one year

Consecutive days with less than 1 mm (0.04 in) of rain, the longest run within a year. The dates are not kept, so the list gives the year (within the year).

Longest wet spell (days with 1 mm or more of rain), within one year

Consecutive days with 1 mm (0.04 in) or more of rain, the longest run within a year. The dates are not kept, so the list gives the year (within the year).

Longest run of nights at or above 25 C

A run belongs to the year it started in, even when it ran on into the next year. A station appears once per list, with its longest run in a complete year. Dry and wet spells are the longest run within a year. Lists use complete years only, so a long run in a year with gaps in the record is not counted.

• In Oceania, the largest reported one day rise in the daily maximum is 25.2 C (45.4 F), at Melbourne Regional Office (Australia) on 16 January 1900.
• In Oceania, the largest reported one day drop in the daily maximum is 28.2 C (50.8 F), at Deniliquin Airport AWS (Australia) on 2 February 2005.
• In Oceania, the largest reported one day rise in the daily minimum is 27.5 C (49.5 F), at Pardoo Station (Australia) on 24 July 2016.
• In Oceania, the largest reported one day drop in the daily minimum is 32.5 C (58.5 F), at Wiluna (Australia) on 12 March 2019.
• In Oceania, the largest reported range between the high and the low of one day is 43.0 C (77.4 F), at Wiluna (Australia) on 12 March 2019.

Caveat.Single readings can still be instrument errors that quality control missed. A station with one faulty value can top a list, so read each entry as a reported value, not as a confirmed event.

Biggest one day rise in the daily maximum

The largest increase in the daily maximum temperature from one day to the next. Values are in degrees Celsius with Fahrenheit beside them.

Biggest one day drop in the daily maximum

The largest decrease in the daily maximum temperature from one day to the next. Values are in degrees Celsius with Fahrenheit beside them.

Biggest one day rise in the daily minimum

The largest increase in the daily minimum temperature from one day to the next. Values are in degrees Celsius with Fahrenheit beside them.

Biggest one day drop in the daily minimum

The largest decrease in the daily minimum temperature from one day to the next. Values are in degrees Celsius with Fahrenheit beside them.

Widest range between the high and the low of one day

The largest difference between the highest and the lowest temperature of the same day. Values are in degrees Celsius with Fahrenheit beside them.

Only stations with at least 10 complete years are listed, and a station appears once per list.

• In Oceania, the share of stations with a hot and dry summer is shown for each year from 1957 to 2025, for 410 stations with at least 20 complete summers in 1961-1990. Each year counts the stations of that set with a complete summer in the year.
• In Oceania, 8.1% of station summers in 1961-1990 were hot and dry (10,571 station summers).
• In Oceania, 16.7% of station summers in 2011-2025 were hot and dry (2,149 station summers).
• In Oceania, 1982 had the highest share: 41.6% of 389 stations (162).

A summer is hot when its mean daily maximum is at or above the station's 80th percentile of its 1961-1990 summers, and dry when its rain is at or below the 20th percentile. A summer is hot and dry when it is both. Summer is June to August north of the equator and December to February south of it, labelled by the year of its first month.

Share of stations with a hot and dry summer

The ten most extreme station summers

Ranked by the temperature z score minus the rain z score against the station's own 1961-1990 mean and standard deviation (at least 0.3 C and 5 mm). A summer is labelled by the year of its first month.