Cairns Climate, Weather By Month, Average Temperature (Australia) (2024)

In Cairns, the wet season is hot, oppressive, and overcast and the dry season is warm, humid, and partly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 63°F to 88°F and is rarely below 56°F or above 91°F.

Based on the tourism score, the best time of year to visit Cairns for warm-weather activities is from mid July to early November.

The hot season lasts for 4.4 months, from November 7 to March 18, with an average daily high temperature above 86°F. The hottest month of the year in Cairns is January, with an average high of 88°F and low of 76°F.

The cool season lasts for 2.7 months, from May 31 to August 23, with an average daily high temperature below 79°F. The coldest month of the year in Cairns is July, with an average low of 64°F and high of 77°F.

In Cairns, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year in Cairns begins around April 1 and lasts for 7.7 months, ending around November 24.

The clearest month of the year in Cairns is September, during which on average the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 63% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 24 and lasts for 4.3 months, ending around April 1.

The cloudiest month of the year in Cairns is January, during which on average the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 80% of the time.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days in Cairns varies very significantly throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 4.7 months, from December 16 to May 5, with a greater than 39% chance of a given day being a wet day. The month with the most wet days in Cairns is February, with an average of 18.7 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation.

The drier season lasts 7.3 months, from May 5 to December 16. The month with the fewest wet days in Cairns is September, with an average of 3.8 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation.

Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. The month with the most days of rain alone in Cairns is February, with an average of 18.7 days. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation throughout the year is rain alone, with a peak probability of 67% on February 18.

Rainfall

To show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Cairns experiences extreme seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

Rain falls throughout the year in Cairns. The month with the most rain in Cairns is February, with an average rainfall of 16.3 inches.

The month with the least rain in Cairns is September, with an average rainfall of 1.1 inches.

The length of the day in Cairns varies over the course of the year. In 2024, the shortest day is June 21, with 11 hours, 7 minutes of daylight; the longest day is December 21, with 13 hours, 9 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 5:33 AM on November 24, and the latest sunrise is 1 hour, 14 minutes later at 6:47 AM on July 7. The earliest sunset is at 5:50 PM on June 3, and the latest sunset is 1 hour, 7 minutes later at 6:57 PM on January 21.

Daylight saving time (DST) is not observed in Cairns during 2024.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

Cairns experiences extreme seasonal variation in the perceived humidity.

The muggier period of the year lasts for 8.7 months, from September 20 to June 11, during which time the comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable at least 35% of the time. The month with the most muggy days in Cairns is January, with 30.6 days that are muggy or worse.

The month with the fewest muggy days in Cairns is July, with 5.3 days that are muggy or worse.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed in Cairns experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 7.3 months, from March 12 to October 22, with average wind speeds of more than 7.7 miles per hour. The windiest month of the year in Cairns is April, with an average hourly wind speed of 8.6 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 4.7 months, from October 22 to March 12. The calmest month of the year in Cairns is February, with an average hourly wind speed of 6.7 miles per hour.

The predominant average hourly wind direction in Cairns is from the east throughout the year.

Cairns is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water.

The average water temperature experiences some seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The time of year with warmer water lasts for 3.9 months, from December 1 to March 29, with an average temperature above 82°F. The month of the year in Cairns with the warmest water is February, with an average temperature of 84°F.

The time of year with cooler water lasts for 3.0 months, from June 10 to September 12, with an average temperature below 76°F. The month of the year in Cairns with the coolest water is July, with an average temperature of 74°F.

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Cairns throughout the year, we compute two travel scores.

The tourism score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 65°F and 80°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Cairns for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid July to early November, with a peak score in the second week of September.

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 75°F and 90°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Cairns for hot-weather activities is from early October to late November, with a peak score in the last week of October.

Methodology

For each hour between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM of each day in the analysis period (1980 to 2016), independent scores are computed for perceived temperature, cloud cover, and total precipitation. Those scores are combined into a single hourly composite score, which is then aggregated into days, averaged over all the years in the analysis period, and smoothed.

Our cloud cover score is 10 for fully clear skies, falling linearly to 9 for mostly clear skies, and to 1 for fully overcast skies.

Our precipitation score, which is based on the three-hour precipitation centered on the hour in question, is 10 for no precipitation, falling linearly to 9 for trace precipitation, and to 0 for 0.04 inches of precipitation or more.

Our tourism temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 50°F, rising linearly to 9 for 65°F, to 10 for 75°F, falling linearly to 9 for 80°F, and to 1 for 90°F or hotter.

Our beach/pool temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 65°F, rising linearly to 9 for 75°F, to 10 for 82°F, falling linearly to 9 for 90°F, and to 1 for 100°F or hotter.

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

Temperatures in Cairns are sufficiently warm year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy experiences some seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 2.9 months, from September 20 to December 17, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 6.8 kWh. The brightest month of the year in Cairns is October, with an average of 7.3 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 2.7 months, from May 6 to July 30, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 5.2 kWh. The darkest month of the year in Cairns is June, with an average of 4.6 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Cairns are -16.923 deg latitude, 145.766 deg longitude, and 23 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Cairns is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 79 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 18 feet. Within 10 miles is essentially flat (3,638 feet). Within 50 miles also contains extreme variations in elevation (5,282 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Cairns is covered by artificial surfaces (39%), trees (22%), sparse vegetation (17%), and water (17%), within 10 miles by trees (57%) and water (24%), and within 50 miles by water (50%) and trees (31%).

This report illustrates the typical weather in Cairns, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016.

Temperature and Dew Point

There is only a single weather station, Cairns International Airport, in our network suitable to be used as a proxy for the historical temperature and dew point records of Cairns.

At a distance of 4 kilometers from Cairns, closer than our threshold of 150 kilometers, this station is deemed sufficiently nearby to be relied upon as our primary source for temperature and dew point records.

The station records are corrected for the elevation difference between the station and Cairns according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations.

Please note that the station records themselves may additionally have been back-filled using other nearby stations or the MERRA-2 reanalysis.

Other Data

All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus.

All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid.

Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database .

Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com .

Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Disclaimer

The information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site.

We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands.

We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader.

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