Climate averages 1991–2020
Cairns weather
in September.
A warm, very dry month: the 8th warmest and the driest of the year. Meets the pleasant-weather rule
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
September is a warm month in Cairns: daytime highs average 26.3°C and nights cool to about 20.2°C. By daytime temperature it is the 8th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 14 mm of rain on roughly 4 days, which makes September a very dry month (the driest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 11 h 59 min on an average September day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Townsville (283 km away). In September its highs average 27.3°C, 1.0°C warmer than Cairns, with 9.8 mm of rain.
Among the 32 cities listed in Australia, Cairns ranks 4th of 32 for the warmest September highs and 2nd of 32 for the driest September (rainfall, lowest first). The mean September high of those 32 cities is 20.0°C; Cairns is 6.3°C warmer than that mean.
From September to October, average highs rise by 1.5°C to 27.7°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 14 mm to 31 mm.
The annual picture
September in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Cairns climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29.7°C24.8°C | 24.8°C | 245 | 21.2 | 13.013 h |
| February | 29.6°C24.9°C | 24.9°C | 256 | 20.9 | 12.713 h |
| March | 28.7°C24.2°C | 24.2°C | 206 | 17.9 | 12.212 h |
| April | 27.3°C22.9°C | 22.9°C | 94 | 12.7 | 11.712 h |
| May | 25.6°C21.2°C | 21.2°C | 41 | 9.5 | 11.311 h |
| June | 24.2°C19.5°C | 19.5°C | 27 | 7.0 | 11.111 h |
| July | 23.5°C18.6°C | 18.6°C | 27 | 5.9 | 11.211 h |
| August | 24.3°C18.7°C | 18.7°C | 23 | 5.5 | 11.512 h |
| September, selected | 26.3°C20.2°C | 20.2°C | 14 | 4.1 | 12.012 h |
| October | 27.7°C21.8°C | 21.8°C | 31 | 6.5 | 12.512 h |
| November | 29.0°C23.3°C | 23.3°C | 57 | 10.4 | 12.913 h |
| December | 29.7°C24.4°C | 24.4°C | 142 | 16.1 | 13.113 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
September in nearby cities
- Townsville in SeptemberAustralia · 283 kmHigh 27.3°C · Low 18.9°C · 9.8 mm rain
- Mackay in SeptemberAustralia · 591 kmHigh 23.8°C · Low 18.8°C · 16 mm rain
- Sunshine Coast in SeptemberAustralia · 1319 kmHigh 23.1°C · Low 15.3°C · 39 mm rain
- Caloundra in SeptemberAustralia · 1334 kmHigh 22.9°C · Low 15.3°C · 39 mm rain
- Toowoomba in SeptemberAustralia · 1343 kmHigh 21.9°C · Low 9.3°C · 29 mm rain
- Brisbane in SeptemberAustralia · 1390 kmHigh 24.2°C · Low 13.6°C · 35 mm rain
- Logan City in SeptemberAustralia · 1410 kmHigh 23.6°C · Low 13.8°C · 33 mm rain
- Gold Coast in SeptemberAustralia · 1461 kmHigh 22.2°C · Low 15.4°C · 40 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Cairns) is explained once on the Cairns year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.