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Palmerston, Northern Territory climate

Aw Tropical savanna (dry winter)

Palmerston has a remarkably steady tropical climate (Tropical savanna (dry winter), Köppen Aw). The hottest month is November with an average daily high near 34°C, while the coldest is July averaging around 19°C at night. Precipitation totals about 1834 mm a year and is strongly seasonal — January alone averages 471 mm while August barely receives 1 mm.

☀️ All year

Hot

Daytime highs near 34°C most of the year.

About 235 days a year above 32 °C

🌙 Nights

Stays warm

Even the coolest nights stay near 19°C.

🌧️ Rain

Very wet

About 1834 mm of rain a year.

Wettest in January

⛅ Sky & trend

Partly cloudy

A roughly even mix of sun and cloud.

+0.1 °C vs 50 years ago

Temperature & precipitation

Daily high–low temperature range with the monthly average, plus monthly precipitation · 1991–2020 normals · hover a month for the exact figures

Clear vs cloudy days

Share of days each month that are clear, partly cloudy or cloudy · 1991–2020 · hover a month for the day counts

Palmerston climate normals (1991–2020)

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°C)	32	32	32	33	32	31	31	32	33	34	34	33
Avg temp (°C)	28	28	29	29	27	26	25	26	28	29	30	29
Avg low (°C)	25	25	25	24	22	20	19	20	23	25	25	25
Precipitation (mm)	471	412	314	105	21	2	1	1	14	69	144	279

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Avg high (°C)	32	32	32	33	32	31
Avg temp (°C)	28	28	29	29	27	26
Avg low (°C)	25	25	25	24	22	20
Precipitation (mm)	471	412	314	105	21	2

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°C)	31	32	33	34	34	33
Avg temp (°C)	25	26	28	29	30	29
Avg low (°C)	19	20	23	25	25	25
Precipitation (mm)	1	1	14	69	144	279

How often — frequency of weather events

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Days with measurable rain (days)	22	21	19	10	2	0.6	0.2	0.5	2	8	13	18
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	18	14	20	25	20	11	9	14	24	29	28	23

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Days with measurable rain (days)	22	21	19	10	2	0.6
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	18	14	20	25	20	11

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Days with measurable rain (days)	0.2	0.5	2	8	13	18
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	9	14	24	29	28	23

Sky & atmosphere

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	87	85	73	55	41	37	32	34	40	47	61	81
Clear days (≤ 30% cloud)	0.8	0.7	4	9	13	13	15	13	11	7	4	2
Partly cloudy days (30–70%)	4	5	7	10	13	14	14	16	16	18	13	6
Cloudy days (≥ 70%)	26	22	20	11	5	3	2	2	3	6	13	23
Relative humidity (%)	82	82	79	75	68	60	56	55	60	63	69	77
Wind speed (m/s)	4.2	4.2	3.3	3.7	4.2	4.1	3.7	3.4	3.1	3.1	2.8	3.3

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Cloud cover (%)	87	85	73	55	41	37
Clear days (≤ 30% cloud)	0.8	0.7	4	9	13	13
Partly cloudy days (30–70%)	4	5	7	10	13	14
Cloudy days (≥ 70%)	26	22	20	11	5	3
Relative humidity (%)	82	82	79	75	68	60
Wind speed (m/s)	4.2	4.2	3.3	3.7	4.2	4.1

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	32	34	40	47	61	81
Clear days (≤ 30% cloud)	15	13	11	7	4	2
Partly cloudy days (30–70%)	14	16	16	18	13	6
Cloudy days (≥ 70%)	2	2	3	6	13	23
Relative humidity (%)	56	55	60	63	69	77
Wind speed (m/s)	3.7	3.4	3.1	3.1	2.8	3.3

Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 30 years of daily observations at Darwin Airport, a weather station, about 12 km from the city centre. The underlying daily records come from NOAA's global station network.

Cloud, humidity, wind & sunshine — modelled estimates from NASA POWER, NASA's satellite-and-reanalysis climatology. This is the standard global source for atmospheric variables, which are not measured at most weather stations.

How we build these numbers →