What Are the Warmest Cities in Australia?

Australia’s climate is world famous for plenty of sunshine and high temperatures. If you’re looking for the warmest places in the country, you’ll love this article.

I’m going to share with you my list of the warmest Australian cities with at least 10,000 residents. I’ll cover the top 10 in more detail and then present the entire ranking in a table with 97 major cities in the country.

Top 10 Warmest Cities in Australia

Here are the top 10 warmest places in Australia. They’re ranked by their annual daily mean temperature. Each city also includes temperatures in July and in January to give an example of average winter temperatures and average summer temperatures. The list is dominated by Queensland and Western Australia. South Australia doesn’t appear on the top 10 list and neither does New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania.

1. Darwin – 27.85 °C

Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory, is by far the hottest Australian city. The tropical savanna climate in Darwin has two seasons: the wet season with very high humidity between November and May and the dry season between May and October. Consequently, the summer months are the rainiest ones with up to 20 days of rain a month.

Darwin has hot weather year round, with very small temperature differences. The hottest month is October with 33.8 °C during the day while the coldest is July with 31.1 °C. This makes Darwin the hottest place in Australia all year round as it never experiences winter or cold weather. Sunny and warm days are guaranteed in the city year round.

Average high temperature in July: 31.1 °C

Average high temperature in January: 32 °C

2. Broome – 26.75 °C

Broome is the second hottest place in Australia. Located in the Kimberley region in northern Western Australia on the Indian Ocean coast, it has a hot semi-arid climate.

Unlike Darwin, Broome gets some respite from heat during the winter months because the average low temperatures drop to 14-15 °C at night. This makes it have a lower average annual temperature. In the summer, the average highest temperature reaches 33.9 °C in December. Broome enjoys extremely sunny weather: it gets 3,510 sunshine hours a year which is almost 300 more than in the sunniest major city of Australia, Perth.

Average high temperature in July: 28.9 °C

Average high temperature in January: 33.3 °C

3. Karratha – 26.6 °C

Karratha is another city located in Western Australia. Located in the Pilbara region, Karratha has cooler winters but hotter summers than Broome. The city is much drier than Broome, experiencing over two times less rainfall. Despite cooler temperatures, it still has a very hot climate.

Average high temperature in July: 26.3 °C

Average high temperature in January: 35.9 °C

4. Port Hedland – 26.4 °C

Port Hedland is the third of the hottest Australian cities in Western Australia. It has some of the hottest summers in this ranking, seeing average temperatures of up to 36.4 °C in January. At 3,630 sunshine hours a year, Port Hedland is the sunniest city in Australia.

Average high temperature in July: 27.2 °C

Average high temperature in January: 36.4 °C

5. Cairns – 25.2 °C

Cairns is the hottest major city in Queensland. Located on the tropical northeast coast of Far North Queensland, Cairns is a major tourist destination due to the access to the Great Barrier Reef and nearby tropical rainforests. Like in Darwin, the wet season runs from November to May. Cairns has a tropical monsoon climate and enjoys warm weather year round.

Average high temperature in July: 26.2 °C

Average high temperature in January: 31.7 °C

6. Townsville – 24.8 °C

Townsville is the second city on this list that’s located in Queensland. It’s the unofficial capital of North Queensland. The city has a tropical savanna climate with about half the precipitation of Cairns. The rainiest months are between December and March.

Average high temperature in July: 25.7 °C

Average high temperature in January: 31.9 °C

7. Mount Isa – 24.75 °C

Mount Isa is a city in northwest Queensland, about 200 km from the border with the Northern Territory. Mount Isa experiences extremely hot temperatures in the summer. In fact, it’s one of the hottest places in the country in this period of time. In December, it sees average high temperatures of 37.4 °C. Sunny days in Mount Isa are the norm because the city gets 3,486 sunshine hours a year (one of the highest in the country).

Average high temperature in July: 25.5 °C

Average high temperature in January: 36.5 °C

8. Gladstone – 23.55 °C

Gladstone is one of the southernmost places in Australia to have a tropical savanna climate. Located in Central Queensland, the city has relatively cool winter temperatures compared to the previous places. In the hottest month (January), it sees average highs of 31.8 °C.

Average high temperature in July: 23.5 °C

Average high temperature in January: 31.8 °C

9. Emerald – 23.2 °C

Emerald is a rural town in the Central Highlands Region of Queensland, west of Gladstone. With a hot semi-arid climate, it experiences much higher summer temperatures than Gladstone. The weather is also drier and thus more comfortable.

Average high temperature in July: 23.5 °C

Average high temperature in January: 34.7 °C

10. Rockhampton – 23.15 °C

Rockhampton in Central Queensland closes the ranking with a hot humid subtropical climate. Rockhampton is located about 108 km northeast of Gladstone. It has slightly higher daytime temperatures both in the hottest and the coldest months. It ranks after Gladstone because it has cooler nighttime temperatures.

Average high temperature in July: 23.9 °C

Average high temperature in January: 32.6 °C

Top 97 Warmest Australian Cities Ranked by the Average Temperature

Here’s a table with 97 major Australian cities that have at least 10,000 residents. Some cities are missing because I couldn’t find climate data for them. The data comes from the Bureau of Meteorology.

You may be also interested in checking out the warmest cities in New Zealand, warmest cities in Europe, or warmest cities in countries around the world.

Further Reading

You may also want to read my article on the hottest city in Australia and my article on cities with the best climate in Australia. You may also want to check out my ranking of the coldest cities in Australia.