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Cairns vs Quito
Comparing Cairns change · Quito change
Cairns is the warmer of the two — about 7°C on the annual average; Quito is the wetter, with 1073 mm more rain a year, and Cairns the sunnier.
How the seasons compare
The differences between Cairns and Quito, in everyday terms.
Summers
Cairns has much hotter summers
Cairns: Hot
Quito: Mild
Winters
Cairns has milder winters
Cairns: Stays warm
Quito: Mild
Rain & snow
Quito is wetter
Cairns: Very wet
Quito: Very wet
Sky
Cairns is far sunnier
Cairns: Partly cloudy
Quito: Often grey
Month-by-month charts
Temperature
Cairns is the warmer of the two — about 7°C on the annual average.
Precipitation
Quito is the wetter — about 1073 mm more across the year.
Clear skies
Cairns has the clearer skies — the higher line.
Exact monthly numbers
Tap a metric to open its full table. Desktop shows all twelve months; on a phone each metric splits into Jan–Jun and Jul–Dec.
Avg high (°C) Cairns runs higher most of the year
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 32 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 27 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 |
| Quito | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 23 | 23 | 22 |
| Difference | -10 | -10 | -9 | -7 | -5 | -3 | -2 | -2 | -4 | -7 | -9 | -10 |
| Jan – Jun | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 32 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 28 | 27 |
| Quito | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 24 |
| Difference | -10 | -10 | -9 | -7 | -5 | -3 |
| Jul – Dec | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 26 | 27 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 |
| Quito | 24 | 25 | 25 | 23 | 23 | 22 |
| Difference | -2 | -2 | -4 | -7 | -9 | -10 |
Avg low (°C) Cairns runs higher most of the year
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 24 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 23 |
| Quito | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| Difference | -10 | -10 | -9 | -8 | -6 | -5 | -5 | -5 | -6 | -7 | -9 | -10 |
| Jan – Jun | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 24 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 18 |
| Quito | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
| Difference | -10 | -10 | -9 | -8 | -6 | -5 |
| Jul – Dec | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 17 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 23 |
| Quito | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| Difference | -5 | -5 | -6 | -7 | -9 | -10 |
Precipitation (mm) Quito runs higher most of the year
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 414 | 444 | 370 | 174 | 87 | 45 | 42 | 27 | 28 | 65 | 85 | 191 |
| Quito | 294 | 281 | 334 | 329 | 270 | 166 | 126 | 129 | 219 | 286 | 303 | 309 |
| Difference | -120 | -163 | -37 | +155 | +183 | +122 | +84 | +101 | +191 | +220 | +218 | +118 |
| Jan – Jun | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 414 | 444 | 370 | 174 | 87 | 45 |
| Quito | 294 | 281 | 334 | 329 | 270 | 166 |
| Difference | -120 | -163 | -37 | +155 | +183 | +122 |
| Jul – Dec | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 42 | 27 | 28 | 65 | 85 | 191 |
| Quito | 126 | 129 | 219 | 286 | 303 | 309 |
| Difference | +84 | +101 | +191 | +220 | +218 | +118 |
Cloud cover (%) Quito runs higher most of the year
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 71 | 71 | 68 | 57 | 52 | 48 | 45 | 41 | 35 | 38 | 47 | 58 |
| Quito | 81 | 84 | 88 | 85 | 81 | 75 | 72 | 71 | 75 | 81 | 81 | 81 |
| Difference | +10 | +13 | +20 | +27 | +29 | +27 | +27 | +30 | +40 | +43 | +34 | +23 |
| Jan – Jun | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 71 | 71 | 68 | 57 | 52 | 48 |
| Quito | 81 | 84 | 88 | 85 | 81 | 75 |
| Difference | +10 | +13 | +20 | +27 | +29 | +27 |
| Jul – Dec | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 45 | 41 | 35 | 38 | 47 | 58 |
| Quito | 72 | 71 | 75 | 81 | 81 | 81 |
| Difference | +27 | +30 | +40 | +43 | +34 | +23 |
Relative humidity (%) Varies through the year
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 85 | 88 | 88 | 87 | 86 | 84 | 82 | 78 | 75 | 73 | 75 | 78 |
| Quito | 86 | 87 | 87 | 86 | 84 | 81 | 78 | 75 | 76 | 80 | 82 | 84 |
| Difference | +1 | -1 | -2 | -1 | -2 | -4 | -4 | -3 | +2 | +7 | +7 | +6 |
| Jan – Jun | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 85 | 88 | 88 | 87 | 86 | 84 |
| Quito | 86 | 87 | 87 | 86 | 84 | 81 |
| Difference | +1 | -1 | -2 | -1 | -2 | -4 |
| Jul – Dec | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 82 | 78 | 75 | 73 | 75 | 78 |
| Quito | 78 | 75 | 76 | 80 | 82 | 84 |
| Difference | -4 | -3 | +2 | +7 | +7 | +6 |
How both climates are changing
Both cities are warming. Each city has its own warming trend; see its trends page for the year-by-year detail. Cairns trends → · Quito trends →
Methodology & sources
Cairns
Temperature & precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 19 years of daily observations at Cairns Post Office, a weather station, about 2 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.
Quito
Temperature & precipitation — modelled for this location from ERA5-Land reanalysis, a ~9 km global grid, because no long-record weather station is close enough to use.
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.