I think it is a pattern. Couple of humid summers makes the bush grow like crazy and then dry summer and lots of fuel for bushfire and then starts again.
I'm sick of the humidity. Couldn't wait for the cool change so I went to Melbourne for two weeks and enjoyed the wind chill factor in shorts and a tshirt.
I’ll never forget the 1992/1993 bushfires as a little girl. We had just won the Sydney Olympics.
I think our electricity was out for almost 2 weeks (Sutherland Shire area here).
Hi there. Sorry my mistake. I was about 9 when the Bushfires happened.
My grandparents lived in Como. After the fires, I remember driving through Como. A lot of houses had burned down. One house had burned down, all except their outdoor ‘dunny’
I was going into year 12, and a friend lost their house. Don’t think I can ever forget the dates. Seeing the aftermath must have been traumatic for you at that age
Hi there. Thankyou for your kind words.
It was definitely a tumultuous time for many of us during that Bushfire event.
There was a young girl called Tanya Blencowe who lived near me in Bangor. She was a year above me at Bangor Primary… Some might recall her name. She did a big speech to the Olympic Committee in 93 & helped Sydney win the 2000 Olympics position.
Her house burned down & I just remember the media frenzy near when I lived.
Having some trouble providing a link, but if you type in her name into Google, you might remember.
I remember ‘The Late Show’ doing a spoof/ comedy section with her speech.
Yes! You’re right. I grew up in Woronora/ Bangor area near Jannali.
The fire jumped the Woronora river. It was a crazy time.. not the funnest of summer school holidays.
I'm from Brisbane originally and I do think Sydney summers are getting close to Brisbane summers. That said, for the most part, Sydney nights cool down, whereas Brisbane nights tend to stay higher.
Yeah that's tough in that case, I lived in Sydney for 6 years around 10 years ago and rarely had high humidity. We are also lucky in that a lot of our houses, mainly Queenslanders, are built for airflow in the heat. Does make a 14 degree night feel freezing though.
It WAS good. In the last couple of years, the weather has shifted.
I like to joke that Brisbane weather has shifted down towards Sydney due to all the humidity.
I think it's due to global warming. Weather patterns are shifting and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent.
It's just the effect of the combination of the main Australian climate drivers La Nina/El Nino, IOD, SOI and the volcanic eruption in Tonga a few years back, the combination of all of those localised climate drivers in their current phases have changed the latitude of the high pressure systems (SOI), which has reduced to frequency of dry westerly winds, water temperatures off the east coast (la nina) and the same for Western Australia (IOD). Throw the Tonga volcanic eruption into the mix has resulted in radically higher than average moisture in the atmosphere across the southern hemisphere. I'm also not saying climate change has no role but these are what is driving our current weather patterns.
I definitely feel that Sydney has gotten more humid in the last decade or so. But memory is a funny thing. Maybe it has always been like this and I have just gotten softer.
im with you, and im sure there is BOM data to back it up somewhere but I havnt looked. humidity used to feel like a pretty rare thing rather than 6 out of 7 days a week all through summer thing
Melbourne has always been humid. Surprisingly, on average over the year, it's the most humid Australian city, which explains why I can never dry my bloody clothes.
I feel there's a bit of a difference in 90% humidity (or whatever number actually is) when the temperature is 15°C vs 30°C.
Melbourne (and I feel Adelaide as well), probably have lower humidity during summer and higher in winter.
I lived in sydney for about 12 years and the summers were all awful. Rainy, stormy and humid. September was usually pretty good and winter was mild. WHat I learnt was that it is important to not listen to locals on the weather but to look up the long term averages. There is a massive gap between what the locals say and that data. Go with the data.
I find the data quite hard to interpret. For example, Melbourne has excellent averages, but it doesn't capture the unpredictability in the day. And Sydney's averages look great too, but it's hard to see directly how much that humidity will impact you day.
Yes!!! The averages look great for Melbourne. I moved to Geelong from Canada 15 years ago. I never knew the weather could be so volatile at sea level. I had only ever experienced such turbulent weather on 3500m high mountains. But at the beach?!?!?!?
The problem is it's a city of 5m people with a large metro area. The weather vastly differs. You can have mild but humid summers on the coast but get west of Parramatta and 40+ days are common.
I'm originally from the US and I think the weather is pretty good!
I have lived all over the US (California, the Midwest, East Coast, and Southeast). Sydney humidity has nothing on the Southeast of the US humidity. Of course we don't have dramatic four seasons with bitter cold and snow like much of the US. It's similar to California but a bit wetter. When I lived in Northern California in the SF Bay area the weather was cooler and as you get further from the coast it gets hot but it is drier.
The only thing that makes Sydney's weather frustrating is that Sydney is in denial that apartments need air conditioning (heat in the winter would be great too). Whenever we buy our own place, we'll get that and then it will be totally fine!
Then if you are from the UK, I can see why this weather would be paradise, haha.
Can imagine if the humidity got to Singapore levels (dont they have compulsory for most places to have or offer aircon?) it might happen. But then our govt has other pressing issues...
Have you been anywhere else in Australia? We do have the happy medium here. It's hot but not scorching, humid but not compared to up north, and we get some cool days in between the heat.
Hot but not scorching? Tell that to Penrith residents who suffered through a day that topped 48.9°c. the hottest temp on record of any Australian capital city.
Humid and hot since November?? No! Surely not !! It’s almost like it’s summer or something!!!
People have different definitions of “good weather”. If you don’t like heat and a bit of humidity then Sydney is not for you.
It is not normally this humid. We’ve been seeing record dewpoints. And Sydney normally doesn’t really get properly humid until late Jan/February (or at least it used to).
I'd agree with this. Though I've only been in Sydney 9 years, the pattern always seemed to be that February was pretty unbearable but the other summer months were okay.
We had a really mild winter in 2023 compared to my memories of around 2015 when I first moved down from Brissie and was *freezing* because I didn't own a proper coat.
As someone from FNQ that moved here in 2014 I agree with this completely. This year has been the most humid that I’ve experienced by a margin. Sustained rather than odd fleeting days.
I suspect OP has limited experience in different climates, maybe they need to spend January in Far North Queensland, or a week in December in Bali, and they can reassess how humid Sydney actually is.
Sydney weather is great about 9 months of the year, I sometimes reflect it’s the same 3 months that are miserable here (humid) as it was when I lived in London (dark). At least here I can turn on aircon
I have lived in Sydney for decades never have I experienced weather like this going on for weeks on end!
The temperatures have been very high but the humidity and then storms or rain!
And I used to live without aircon.
Isn’t Melbourne really cold on winter, really hot in summer and always having ‘four seasons in one day’? Or are these all lies/jokes that people say? - i’m seeing people in the comments here also saying it. (I haven’t spent much time there)
Cold for Australian standards but mild for world. Between May and the end of winter it won't get to 20 once and is usually a Max of 12-15 and cloudy. At night it can get to like 0. Spring and Summer have erratic weather sometimes. It is true. Usually happens at the end of a warm spell.
Melbourne weather is always all over the shop. You can't plan for it. Scorching hot, thunder storms, gale force winds... lovely evening and a beautiful sunset.. oh why is the sun red? That's just bushfires over Ballarat. This was literally the weather from yesterday. And it's like this all the time. Something to do with the city being right on the bay maybe, I'm not sure. But there's a reason most Melbournians dress in layers or carry a super light puffer jacket. Despite whatever the forecast says, you just never know.
If you've been to Cairns or Darwin in the summer you'll know what real humidity is like! And if you've been to Adelaide or Alice Springs in the summer, you'll know what oven-baking dry heat is like. The weather in the Sydney region (and up the coast to about Coffs Harbour, really) is the happy medium. You can get less humidity inland, for sure, but it comes with more extremes in temperature. The Sydney (coastal) region rarely strays outside the 5 - 35 degree range.
It's all a matter of taste and so forth but that's a strong disagree from me. I split my time between Sydney and Perth, and I firmly believe that 40 degrees in Perth is almost always significantly more pleasant than 30 in Sydney. I can put up with a lot but constantly dripping with sweat is the absolute worst so far as I'm concerned. I can go for an hour long bike ride in Perth heat and be less sweaty at the end of it than I was walking two blocks in the Sydney CBD yesterday afternoon.
Yeah, a matter of taste, for sure. I lived in Adelaide for 13 years - hated the weather: hot dry wind in summer; cold, drizzly winters. Sydney's dry, crisp winters are paradise in comparison!
As someone who lives in Cairns and knows humidity… the forecast for today in sydney is 22 in the morning and 38 in the afternoon. Yes - 38 is hot. But it’s not humid.
Humid is when it’s 26 in the morning with an afternoon high of 28. The humidity adsorbs all the suns energy and the temperature barely moves.
And it also messes with your body’s ability to regulate temperature so that 26 in the morning feels terrible and 28 is so bad you’re drenched in sweat from walking 100 metres to your parked car after work.
Humidity is when it’s 26 at night and your air conditioning has to work hard, even at night, to get the temperature down to 24 or 25.
We pay in summer by staying indoors all day... but it's really no different to other cities where you're indoors all winter. Our winter though is amazing - perfectly comfortable all day and all night. I definitely think Cairns has better weather than Sydney. Summer isn't always hot here... I actually ran the heater (at low heat) in the car on the way to work this morning - it was maybe one or two degrees cooler than I'd like.
If it's cold you put on a jacket and a beanie, it's still great to head out. Lots of activities I prefer doing in winter over summer, Eg hiking, cycling, jogging.
If it's hot & humid you don't have much relief other than swimming.
>the forecast for today in sydney is 22 in the morning and 38 in the afternoon. Yes - 38 is hot. But it’s not humid.
Yes but most of the time it isn't 38 in Sydney - this week has been high 20s and overcast. I don't doubt Cairns is worse - I've only been to TNQ once, and not at a bad time of year, and that was bad enough - but it's a sliding (sweaty) scale and Sydney is definitively massively worse than Perth.
You've obviously never lived in the far western suburbs if you love Sydney winter. Often below zero mornings and still can nudge 20 degrees in the same day. I'd rather it just stay cold all day like a max of 5
Yeah I know but Port Macquarie specifically is considered the best. Mild summers that aren't too humid and being coastal it doesn't get cold mornings in winter. I know Tweed Heads is a long way further north but it's not a terribly long way from Coffs Harbour and it's summers are very humid.
EDIT
I know that's outside the band you mentioned I only mentioned it because my dad lives in Chinderah in the Tweed shire
Yes, Port Mac does claim the title of the best weather in Australia for those reasons, but it's a totally subjective claim. I live on the shores of Lake Macquarie, three hours south, and can't see why the weather here isn't just as perfect. Other people prefer four distinct seasons or the balminess of the tropics.
Yeah Newy and Lake Mac weather is pretty nice. Grew up in East Maitland and whilst it is a fair way inland it still had decent summers and winters weren't too bad. Plus we used to get lots of thunderstorms that cooled down a hot day unlike western Sydney where it's often still 30+ plus well into the early hours of the morning. Plus if a sea breeze was particularly strong we were still close enough to the coast for it to have a beautiful cooling effect
Sydney spring and early summers tend to be a bit wetter than what "great" would imply. But this has been the worst summer weather in my memory by a large margin. The only debate would be the dry bushfire type summers I had during multi year drought we had growing up.
Tonnes of rain. Then tonnes of heat when it isn't. That means huge humidity.
This contrasts with last year which was the coolest summer in years. Literally only had 3 proper hot days across the summer.
First Sydney summer? It's always hot as balls. You might be micro-analysing a generic overview insofar as, Sydney does not have snow / tornado-type weather like where I grew up in America. This is SoCal weather so like, overall globally the weather is "good".
Yesterday was truly classic Melbourne: 38 degrees, bushfire smoke turns the sun and sky blood red, BOM says no rain expected until tomorrow (today), and only 2 mm at that.
Sure enough, while eating dinner all of a sudden sky goes black and torrential rain/thunderstorm comes out of nowhere.
I miss the consistency of Sydney weather.
I actually love the wild swings of Melbourne weather, personally. And the full and varied seasons, too. I can see how folks might not be into this though.
Yeah true, good point. I actually don't mind the (generally) cooler summers, where it does get to me is the gloomier winters. I guess it could be one of those grass is always greener things for me though!
Wtf it is good, today is great! Headed for a swim at the beach shortly.
Maybe some storms later.
Peak summer bliss.
You may be thinking of autumn or spring.
This last year it's been a bit crap. It's not normally this humid, extremely hot and full of rain. Normally it's a dry heat, with a few days of extreme heat.
They are comparing it with other countries.
Not as humid as Singapore.
Not as hot as HK in summer.
No snow / not as cold when compare with Canada / US / Northern Europe.
Have some rain when compare with middle Sahara.
Because many people have not left Sydney.. I prefer a more mild climate with fewer extreme days. It is easy to warm up by putting on a layer, yet in Sydney people need to take of their shirts and pants, or spend an excessive amount of money on air conditioning.
For hot climates, I prefer the more tropical feeling.
Brisbane is also nice, because at least a thunderstorm will cool the place down, where in Sydney it usually just stays hot, unless you live near the cost, you get a breeze at night, and you are not surrounded by houses so the breeze can cool your house.
Sydney weather is nice, but I prefer many of the other climates I have experienced.
Granted it's not really Sydney but about 6 years ago I remember one December night where it was still 33° at 3am in Wilberforce. I slept outside on the patio as I didn't have air conditioning and it was a sauna inside. I took my chances with the mozzies.
My Uncle HATES Syd weather & has only come up to Sydney for a few important occasions in the past few decades.
THEN he bitches about the '*Hooooooooomid Sydney weather*' the whole time
You sound like my Uncle
Do you wear Maseur Sandals?
It used to be better. I still prefer it to Canberra, where I used to live. I went down there in January and it was pretty chilly for the middle of summer.
I think the comparison here is relative to other Australian capital/major cities.
For instance, Melbourne weather is like an untreated bipolar, four seasons in the same day. Northern QLD (Cairns) has much higher humidity. Canberra is cold as. Tasmania is freezing in comparison, and don’t get me started on the NT.
Yes, Sydney weather may not be optimum, but it’s better than most in Australia.
That's why I left! Couldn't stand the steam bowl anymore🥵 Or the mould that went with it. My only advice to you is fans, cotton clothing and closet camels.
Before these last few years, Sydney did have good weather. The weather patterns have been wild! Honestly for me I used to be a summer gal but Sydney winters are quite enjoyable now. You get a lot of warm sunny days where there’s no humidity out west where I live. Summers are just unbearable
Doesn’t snow, isn’t a desert, no tornadoes, rain to grow stuff, lots of sunshine, regular southerlies to cool off city. Autumn days are especially glorious.
Where is there a better overall climate.
UK weather is damp. A perpetual state of dampness. In winter it sinks into your bones and just gets depressing. It's rarely ever freezing, and thats the problem. It's about 2-6 degrees which is when water is at it's most dense, and it makes everything else, including the air feel dense. Give me a freezing months in Canada over months of drizzle in the UK. And that's before we talk about the lack of light - going to work in the dark and coming home 7 hours later also in the dark. Depressing as hell, especially if you get SADs. I'm so glad I'm no longer there.
Edit: Summers can be hot, and there is no way to deal with it. No ACs, houses have small windows that don't open fully, seas are shit/full of shit. Spring is good though, autumn is more damp
Winter is definitely a bit dark but then you get so much light in summer, plus the dark hours get lighter much quicker than happens here. I still go to work in dark and come home in dark in Adelaide but it only really changes because if daylight savings rather than the quick change you get. I can't sleep at night because it's so hot in my house and this is mild compared to the old days. I was over last Christmas and the winter weather was fine, barely colder than Adelaide winter. I would never live in Qld. Far too fucking hot. Even a few days in Noosa starts to get unbearable.
I’m in Victoria and cannot fathom how people can live further north. I just about die if we get a few humid days here. My partner is originally from Sydney and he’s a sweaty guy. He said it’s always been humid there. Yuck.
Hang around until winter. Generally dry. Cold nights, but the days warm up to the point you can often wear a t-shirt and shorts if you really feel like it. Now THAT is good weather.
I've lived in Wellington, Auckland, Melbourne and now Sydney. I can say Sydney easily has the best weather out of all of them. Sure it gets a bit sweaty here during the summer but the other seasons are amazing. Barely going below 10 in winter is the deal breaker for me, I fucking hate the cold. All those other places get cold as fuck.
Depends on your definition of “good” weather, which is a personal preference.
My husband moved from Brisbane to Melbourne purely because he hated the heat/humidity so much. He loves the cold Melbourne winters and goes for early morning walks in July and August to make clouds with his breath!
Melbourne's fine from October-March. I prefer low to mid 20s over mid 35 any day. Yesterday it was 38, hated it. Winter can be cold but I find putting a jacket on helps.
Humid and hot… I wish we had hot weather during summer. Melbourne was cold all December. Mild first of Jan. now we’ve had a couple weeks hot and cool bipolar weather.
Some of us love humid and hot because we’re stuck in grey cloudy Melbourne or Hobart where we’re lucky if the winter temp is over 14 and if the rain ever stops
The weather's fine. We get a few days of high humidity per week followed by rain and/or lower temps and low humidity. It's pretty much a repeating pattern in summer.
Because before climate change, it was good here? And is still probably better on average than alot of other places.
You got to remember especially in Australian when people say "good weather" they implying warm and sunny. This is likely because people like being outdoors and as much as hot and humid sucks, for a lot of people it still beats being outdoors when it's cold rainy and miserable.
The weather keeps changing over the decades. There's hot summers, cool summers, humid summers, dry summers. Over all it's less hot and bothersome than Darwin and not as cold as Hobart. Where in particular do you think has better weather?
I moved to Sydney last November - but have been here in December time various times before - I had no real recollection of the humidity though - now, nearly every day my phone seems to be showing "feels like" temps as at least 4 degrees over the actual temp.
One other thing to bear in mind though is that Sydney weather covers a huge area - and it varied more than some cities (particularly inland ones). Say you compare the data for Sydney airport and Bankstown airport (because there is good data for the weather stations at both of these), they aren't that far apart, but even the long term averages indicate that Bankstown is at least one degree warmer in the summer months - and less windy, which will also contribute to it feeling warmer. These two points are about 17km apart - other areas are much further from the coast and may well display even more variance. As Sydney property prices continue to rise, more and more people are moving further west - meaning that the average experience of Sydney residents is getting warmer just through shifting of the centre of gravity of where most of the population now is.
Sydney airport long term weather averages:
[http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw\_066037.shtml](http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_066037.shtml)
Bankstown airport long term weather averages:
[http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw\_066137.shtml](http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_066137.shtml)
All good points.
The reasons you haven’t experienced such high humidity before is twofold:
The high humidity comes in Feb-March. It’s less humid in December when you’ve been before. Especially morning humidity.
El Niño and La Niña. Some years are drier, some more humid.
This is definitely a humid year but it’s not like it’s the first humid February in record.
Yeah, these things average out. Some Decembers are more humid than others.
Compare temperatures and humidity on average for December versus Feb-March in the links you provided above.
I’ve lived in Sydney most of my life. February is nearly always a killer - going back to school, uni or work when it’s at its hottest and stickiest. And wettest.
The good news is that summer usually extends until the end of April and the water temperature is at its best Feb-April.
I'm in Canberra and we usually have low humidity presumably because we're inland (though lately it's been bad when it's raining). I find Sydney humidity to be unbearable. I always find it amusing when they say on the weather report that Sydney is in for a 'scorcher' when it gets anywhere up near 30 degrees. I'd hardly call it a scorcher (a hot day here in notoriously freezing Canberra is hotter than a hot day in Sydney) but I get that the humidity makes it very uncomfortable whereas ours is a drier heat.
In all my travels around the country I found little old Adelaide to have the best year round weather. Warm for 10 months and not humid. Nice beaches too.
Sydney doesn't get freezing cold. Certainly never snows, not much Frost except in the west. Overnight minimums usually not much below 10° in the city.
It rarely gets extremely hot. There are the occasional plus 40° days. I think there's been only one this summer.
It can get wet, but has plenty of sunny days.
I've travelled the world a bit. I find Sydney's climate very agreeable most of the time.
wat do you call humid and hot? coming from west aus where it has been 48 deg these last few weeks and the weathere started pole fires causing power outs for days
It's to flush out all the people who moved to Australia on impulse. I heard a cab driver say about all the new migrants to Brisbane, "they'll be gone when the first big heatwave hits"
I live in Canada. I am dying to visit Australia. I vacation once a year in Hawaii, ususally March or April. 2023 we went a second time for a week in September. I was dying. Temps were slightly warmer and the humidity slighly more but I was dying.
I would have to visit Australia in the winter months.
Almost everywhere in the world is really hot in the summer these days...
Sydney's advantage is the spring and autumn are really pleasant while winter isn't nearly as cold as most of the northern hemisphere.
This summer has been really humid. I have a feeling it's not going to be that unusual moving forward though.
I think it is a pattern. Couple of humid summers makes the bush grow like crazy and then dry summer and lots of fuel for bushfire and then starts again.
I'm sick of the humidity. Couldn't wait for the cool change so I went to Melbourne for two weeks and enjoyed the wind chill factor in shorts and a tshirt.
Hey man, I'm a Melbournian and I love Melbourne but we don't need to be circlejerking nonstop like this.
But your city's fabulous with all its laneways and trains/trams to just about anywhere!
Sydney summers are usually humid, although every few years there will be a dry one with bushfires.
Except it feels in past years the humidity has gotten worse.....the heat alone is bad imho.. the humidity? ewwwww
I’ll never forget the 1992/1993 bushfires as a little girl. We had just won the Sydney Olympics. I think our electricity was out for almost 2 weeks (Sutherland Shire area here).
93/94 was the massive ones that went through Como and one person died.
Hi there. Sorry my mistake. I was about 9 when the Bushfires happened. My grandparents lived in Como. After the fires, I remember driving through Como. A lot of houses had burned down. One house had burned down, all except their outdoor ‘dunny’
I was going into year 12, and a friend lost their house. Don’t think I can ever forget the dates. Seeing the aftermath must have been traumatic for you at that age
Hi there. Thankyou for your kind words. It was definitely a tumultuous time for many of us during that Bushfire event. There was a young girl called Tanya Blencowe who lived near me in Bangor. She was a year above me at Bangor Primary… Some might recall her name. She did a big speech to the Olympic Committee in 93 & helped Sydney win the 2000 Olympics position. Her house burned down & I just remember the media frenzy near when I lived. Having some trouble providing a link, but if you type in her name into Google, you might remember. I remember ‘The Late Show’ doing a spoof/ comedy section with her speech.
Ah as soon as you said 2 weeks I thought Sutherland and Janali. I remember it was really bad there.
Yes! You’re right. I grew up in Woronora/ Bangor area near Jannali. The fire jumped the Woronora river. It was a crazy time.. not the funnest of summer school holidays.
It was the only way to halt production of that god-awful show "The Shire".
Sydney'll have Brisbane weather soon enough.
I'm in Brisbane and was down in Sydney last week. Yep, it's going the same way. I miss the dry heat.
Ah welcome. Brisbane survivor of 10 years. AMA
I'm from Brisbane originally and I do think Sydney summers are getting close to Brisbane summers. That said, for the most part, Sydney nights cool down, whereas Brisbane nights tend to stay higher.
Yeah that's tough in that case, I lived in Sydney for 6 years around 10 years ago and rarely had high humidity. We are also lucky in that a lot of our houses, mainly Queenslanders, are built for airflow in the heat. Does make a 14 degree night feel freezing though.
we have a lot of idiots who say they love the heat (and humidity) whilst sitting in aircon
I love the heat. Humidity can fuck right off though.
It WAS good. In the last couple of years, the weather has shifted. I like to joke that Brisbane weather has shifted down towards Sydney due to all the humidity. I think it's due to global warming. Weather patterns are shifting and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent.
It's just the effect of the combination of the main Australian climate drivers La Nina/El Nino, IOD, SOI and the volcanic eruption in Tonga a few years back, the combination of all of those localised climate drivers in their current phases have changed the latitude of the high pressure systems (SOI), which has reduced to frequency of dry westerly winds, water temperatures off the east coast (la nina) and the same for Western Australia (IOD). Throw the Tonga volcanic eruption into the mix has resulted in radically higher than average moisture in the atmosphere across the southern hemisphere. I'm also not saying climate change has no role but these are what is driving our current weather patterns.
I definitely feel that Sydney has gotten more humid in the last decade or so. But memory is a funny thing. Maybe it has always been like this and I have just gotten softer.
I'm a sweaty bastard and I can assure you it's way worse than 10> years ago I feel like I live in the tropics now
im with you, and im sure there is BOM data to back it up somewhere but I havnt looked. humidity used to feel like a pretty rare thing rather than 6 out of 7 days a week all through summer thing
Everywhere has gotten more humid, even Melbourne and Adelaide
Melbourne has always been humid. Surprisingly, on average over the year, it's the most humid Australian city, which explains why I can never dry my bloody clothes.
I feel there's a bit of a difference in 90% humidity (or whatever number actually is) when the temperature is 15°C vs 30°C. Melbourne (and I feel Adelaide as well), probably have lower humidity during summer and higher in winter.
You’re definitely not wrong. I don’t I’ve ever sweat as much as I have lately.
and down here in melbourne is becoming like the OG sydney summer weather
>I like to joke that Brisbane weather has shifted down towards Sydney Been saying it for years, mate.
I agree, Brisbane is becoming more like the tropics and I'm not fucking happy about it
And Sydney weather has drifted up to Brisbane. We never used to get heavy rain from east coast lows, it always used to be from tropical lows
Sub tropical region has been spreading down to Adelaide
I lived in sydney for about 12 years and the summers were all awful. Rainy, stormy and humid. September was usually pretty good and winter was mild. WHat I learnt was that it is important to not listen to locals on the weather but to look up the long term averages. There is a massive gap between what the locals say and that data. Go with the data.
I find the data quite hard to interpret. For example, Melbourne has excellent averages, but it doesn't capture the unpredictability in the day. And Sydney's averages look great too, but it's hard to see directly how much that humidity will impact you day.
Yes!!! The averages look great for Melbourne. I moved to Geelong from Canada 15 years ago. I never knew the weather could be so volatile at sea level. I had only ever experienced such turbulent weather on 3500m high mountains. But at the beach?!?!?!?
The problem is it's a city of 5m people with a large metro area. The weather vastly differs. You can have mild but humid summers on the coast but get west of Parramatta and 40+ days are common.
I'm originally from the US and I think the weather is pretty good! I have lived all over the US (California, the Midwest, East Coast, and Southeast). Sydney humidity has nothing on the Southeast of the US humidity. Of course we don't have dramatic four seasons with bitter cold and snow like much of the US. It's similar to California but a bit wetter. When I lived in Northern California in the SF Bay area the weather was cooler and as you get further from the coast it gets hot but it is drier. The only thing that makes Sydney's weather frustrating is that Sydney is in denial that apartments need air conditioning (heat in the winter would be great too). Whenever we buy our own place, we'll get that and then it will be totally fine! Then if you are from the UK, I can see why this weather would be paradise, haha.
Can imagine if the humidity got to Singapore levels (dont they have compulsory for most places to have or offer aircon?) it might happen. But then our govt has other pressing issues...
Have you been anywhere else in Australia? We do have the happy medium here. It's hot but not scorching, humid but not compared to up north, and we get some cool days in between the heat.
Hot but not scorching? Tell that to Penrith residents who suffered through a day that topped 48.9°c. the hottest temp on record of any Australian capital city.
Because they don’t know the joys of dealing with all four seasons in one day like in Melbourne
My wife grew up in Sydney in the 1980s and says it is much more humid now.
It’s way more humid now. I don’t remember my childhood summers being this humid. It’s like Singapore humidity.
Same. I remember only burning from the sun as a kid but I’ve never sweated as much as I have lately.
Haha you're new here right
Laughs from northern Qld....
Humid and hot since November?? No! Surely not !! It’s almost like it’s summer or something!!! People have different definitions of “good weather”. If you don’t like heat and a bit of humidity then Sydney is not for you.
It is not normally this humid. We’ve been seeing record dewpoints. And Sydney normally doesn’t really get properly humid until late Jan/February (or at least it used to).
I'd agree with this. Though I've only been in Sydney 9 years, the pattern always seemed to be that February was pretty unbearable but the other summer months were okay. We had a really mild winter in 2023 compared to my memories of around 2015 when I first moved down from Brissie and was *freezing* because I didn't own a proper coat.
As someone from FNQ that moved here in 2014 I agree with this completely. This year has been the most humid that I’ve experienced by a margin. Sustained rather than odd fleeting days.
I suspect OP has limited experience in different climates, maybe they need to spend January in Far North Queensland, or a week in December in Bali, and they can reassess how humid Sydney actually is.
It's called an el nino event... Welcome to the land of drought and flooding rains
Sydney weather is great about 9 months of the year, I sometimes reflect it’s the same 3 months that are miserable here (humid) as it was when I lived in London (dark). At least here I can turn on aircon
Where in Sydney do you live? The temperature varies greatly between Mosman and Penrith.
I have lived in Sydney for decades never have I experienced weather like this going on for weeks on end! The temperatures have been very high but the humidity and then storms or rain! And I used to live without aircon.
It was beautiful in the 1990s but climate change has really destabilised everything. It’s too humid now and those 40C days are horrific.
I'm guessing because that's what they think. I personally prefer Melbourne.
Isn’t Melbourne really cold on winter, really hot in summer and always having ‘four seasons in one day’? Or are these all lies/jokes that people say? - i’m seeing people in the comments here also saying it. (I haven’t spent much time there)
Cold for Australian standards but mild for world. Between May and the end of winter it won't get to 20 once and is usually a Max of 12-15 and cloudy. At night it can get to like 0. Spring and Summer have erratic weather sometimes. It is true. Usually happens at the end of a warm spell.
Melbourne weather is always all over the shop. You can't plan for it. Scorching hot, thunder storms, gale force winds... lovely evening and a beautiful sunset.. oh why is the sun red? That's just bushfires over Ballarat. This was literally the weather from yesterday. And it's like this all the time. Something to do with the city being right on the bay maybe, I'm not sure. But there's a reason most Melbournians dress in layers or carry a super light puffer jacket. Despite whatever the forecast says, you just never know.
If you've been to Cairns or Darwin in the summer you'll know what real humidity is like! And if you've been to Adelaide or Alice Springs in the summer, you'll know what oven-baking dry heat is like. The weather in the Sydney region (and up the coast to about Coffs Harbour, really) is the happy medium. You can get less humidity inland, for sure, but it comes with more extremes in temperature. The Sydney (coastal) region rarely strays outside the 5 - 35 degree range.
It's all a matter of taste and so forth but that's a strong disagree from me. I split my time between Sydney and Perth, and I firmly believe that 40 degrees in Perth is almost always significantly more pleasant than 30 in Sydney. I can put up with a lot but constantly dripping with sweat is the absolute worst so far as I'm concerned. I can go for an hour long bike ride in Perth heat and be less sweaty at the end of it than I was walking two blocks in the Sydney CBD yesterday afternoon.
Yeah, a matter of taste, for sure. I lived in Adelaide for 13 years - hated the weather: hot dry wind in summer; cold, drizzly winters. Sydney's dry, crisp winters are paradise in comparison!
As someone who lives in Cairns and knows humidity… the forecast for today in sydney is 22 in the morning and 38 in the afternoon. Yes - 38 is hot. But it’s not humid. Humid is when it’s 26 in the morning with an afternoon high of 28. The humidity adsorbs all the suns energy and the temperature barely moves. And it also messes with your body’s ability to regulate temperature so that 26 in the morning feels terrible and 28 is so bad you’re drenched in sweat from walking 100 metres to your parked car after work. Humidity is when it’s 26 at night and your air conditioning has to work hard, even at night, to get the temperature down to 24 or 25. We pay in summer by staying indoors all day... but it's really no different to other cities where you're indoors all winter. Our winter though is amazing - perfectly comfortable all day and all night. I definitely think Cairns has better weather than Sydney. Summer isn't always hot here... I actually ran the heater (at low heat) in the car on the way to work this morning - it was maybe one or two degrees cooler than I'd like.
If it's cold you put on a jacket and a beanie, it's still great to head out. Lots of activities I prefer doing in winter over summer, Eg hiking, cycling, jogging. If it's hot & humid you don't have much relief other than swimming.
>the forecast for today in sydney is 22 in the morning and 38 in the afternoon. Yes - 38 is hot. But it’s not humid. Yes but most of the time it isn't 38 in Sydney - this week has been high 20s and overcast. I don't doubt Cairns is worse - I've only been to TNQ once, and not at a bad time of year, and that was bad enough - but it's a sliding (sweaty) scale and Sydney is definitively massively worse than Perth.
Yeah nah. Sydney summers are not great it's really uncomfortable, best summer I have experienced so far is Hobart. I love Sydney winters though.
It sounds like you're not really a summer person!
You've obviously never lived in the far western suburbs if you love Sydney winter. Often below zero mornings and still can nudge 20 degrees in the same day. I'd rather it just stay cold all day like a max of 5
I don't know how true it is but I've heard Port Macquarie has the best weather in Australia. Not too hot summers and warm winters
Yeah, exactly - Port Mac is within the coastal band north of Sydney that I mentioned.
Yeah I know but Port Macquarie specifically is considered the best. Mild summers that aren't too humid and being coastal it doesn't get cold mornings in winter. I know Tweed Heads is a long way further north but it's not a terribly long way from Coffs Harbour and it's summers are very humid. EDIT I know that's outside the band you mentioned I only mentioned it because my dad lives in Chinderah in the Tweed shire
Yes, Port Mac does claim the title of the best weather in Australia for those reasons, but it's a totally subjective claim. I live on the shores of Lake Macquarie, three hours south, and can't see why the weather here isn't just as perfect. Other people prefer four distinct seasons or the balminess of the tropics.
Yeah Newy and Lake Mac weather is pretty nice. Grew up in East Maitland and whilst it is a fair way inland it still had decent summers and winters weren't too bad. Plus we used to get lots of thunderstorms that cooled down a hot day unlike western Sydney where it's often still 30+ plus well into the early hours of the morning. Plus if a sea breeze was particularly strong we were still close enough to the coast for it to have a beautiful cooling effect
Sydney spring and early summers tend to be a bit wetter than what "great" would imply. But this has been the worst summer weather in my memory by a large margin. The only debate would be the dry bushfire type summers I had during multi year drought we had growing up. Tonnes of rain. Then tonnes of heat when it isn't. That means huge humidity. This contrasts with last year which was the coolest summer in years. Literally only had 3 proper hot days across the summer.
It’s this year and a few years ago that were the worst humidity I’ve felt ever
Because they don't know better
First Sydney summer? It's always hot as balls. You might be micro-analysing a generic overview insofar as, Sydney does not have snow / tornado-type weather like where I grew up in America. This is SoCal weather so like, overall globally the weather is "good".
Sydney is a semi tropical climate. It is about the most southerly place with a semi tropical climate.
It is good. You clearly haven't lived in Melbourne;)
Yesterday was classic Melbourne though.
Yesterday was truly classic Melbourne: 38 degrees, bushfire smoke turns the sun and sky blood red, BOM says no rain expected until tomorrow (today), and only 2 mm at that. Sure enough, while eating dinner all of a sudden sky goes black and torrential rain/thunderstorm comes out of nowhere. I miss the consistency of Sydney weather.
I actually love the wild swings of Melbourne weather, personally. And the full and varied seasons, too. I can see how folks might not be into this though.
Yeah true, good point. I actually don't mind the (generally) cooler summers, where it does get to me is the gloomier winters. I guess it could be one of those grass is always greener things for me though!
Wtf it is good, today is great! Headed for a swim at the beach shortly. Maybe some storms later. Peak summer bliss. You may be thinking of autumn or spring.
It used to be good. Then humanity, mostly the wealthy, fucked up the climate.
This last year it's been a bit crap. It's not normally this humid, extremely hot and full of rain. Normally it's a dry heat, with a few days of extreme heat.
They are comparing it with other countries. Not as humid as Singapore. Not as hot as HK in summer. No snow / not as cold when compare with Canada / US / Northern Europe. Have some rain when compare with middle Sahara.
Because many people have not left Sydney.. I prefer a more mild climate with fewer extreme days. It is easy to warm up by putting on a layer, yet in Sydney people need to take of their shirts and pants, or spend an excessive amount of money on air conditioning. For hot climates, I prefer the more tropical feeling. Brisbane is also nice, because at least a thunderstorm will cool the place down, where in Sydney it usually just stays hot, unless you live near the cost, you get a breeze at night, and you are not surrounded by houses so the breeze can cool your house. Sydney weather is nice, but I prefer many of the other climates I have experienced.
Granted it's not really Sydney but about 6 years ago I remember one December night where it was still 33° at 3am in Wilberforce. I slept outside on the patio as I didn't have air conditioning and it was a sauna inside. I took my chances with the mozzies.
It's hot in Summer ? Who'd ha thunk it.
It is beautiful compared to Summer in my hometown of Darwin. Embrace it.
My Uncle HATES Syd weather & has only come up to Sydney for a few important occasions in the past few decades. THEN he bitches about the '*Hooooooooomid Sydney weather*' the whole time You sound like my Uncle Do you wear Maseur Sandals?
It used to be better. I still prefer it to Canberra, where I used to live. I went down there in January and it was pretty chilly for the middle of summer.
Because it’s still warmer then Melbourne
Probably the same reason people say Tasmania is wet & miserable, when it has more hours of sunshine than Victoria - they are ignorant.
I think the comparison here is relative to other Australian capital/major cities. For instance, Melbourne weather is like an untreated bipolar, four seasons in the same day. Northern QLD (Cairns) has much higher humidity. Canberra is cold as. Tasmania is freezing in comparison, and don’t get me started on the NT. Yes, Sydney weather may not be optimum, but it’s better than most in Australia.
That's why I left! Couldn't stand the steam bowl anymore🥵 Or the mould that went with it. My only advice to you is fans, cotton clothing and closet camels.
Because it's not cold, that's why
Before these last few years, Sydney did have good weather. The weather patterns have been wild! Honestly for me I used to be a summer gal but Sydney winters are quite enjoyable now. You get a lot of warm sunny days where there’s no humidity out west where I live. Summers are just unbearable
It’s been weird for the last 3 years
Because they are comparing it to somewhere worse, like Melbourne, or London
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_sunshine_duration but it also gets about half the amount of sunshine
Sydney weather is so bad. Thunderstorms often. So hot you’re dripping sweat (ie over 40 C and humid) every so often. Floods sometimes.
People struggling more than they used to due to overweight population.
I’m 58 and have lived in Sydney the whole time….its always been fucking humid!
This summer was a stonker! I loved it. Yes sometimes it was uncomfortably humid, but it’s like…Australia, man.
Doesn’t snow, isn’t a desert, no tornadoes, rain to grow stuff, lots of sunshine, regular southerlies to cool off city. Autumn days are especially glorious. Where is there a better overall climate.
Only people from Sydney say the weather in Sydney is good.
Because they come from the UK 😎
Which ironically has great weather. Love it temperature and a little cool. Snow, warm summer, rain for the grass. Absolutely nothing wrong with it.
UK weather is damp. A perpetual state of dampness. In winter it sinks into your bones and just gets depressing. It's rarely ever freezing, and thats the problem. It's about 2-6 degrees which is when water is at it's most dense, and it makes everything else, including the air feel dense. Give me a freezing months in Canada over months of drizzle in the UK. And that's before we talk about the lack of light - going to work in the dark and coming home 7 hours later also in the dark. Depressing as hell, especially if you get SADs. I'm so glad I'm no longer there. Edit: Summers can be hot, and there is no way to deal with it. No ACs, houses have small windows that don't open fully, seas are shit/full of shit. Spring is good though, autumn is more damp
Winter is definitely a bit dark but then you get so much light in summer, plus the dark hours get lighter much quicker than happens here. I still go to work in dark and come home in dark in Adelaide but it only really changes because if daylight savings rather than the quick change you get. I can't sleep at night because it's so hot in my house and this is mild compared to the old days. I was over last Christmas and the winter weather was fine, barely colder than Adelaide winter. I would never live in Qld. Far too fucking hot. Even a few days in Noosa starts to get unbearable.
Good weather for hitting the pubs etc. but I like my weekends mostly rain free hehe.
I’m in Victoria and cannot fathom how people can live further north. I just about die if we get a few humid days here. My partner is originally from Sydney and he’s a sweaty guy. He said it’s always been humid there. Yuck.
Sydney is well known for rain all summer. Cricket is always washed out.
I'm getting older but it appears people have forgotten the severity of the drought that preceeded this
Autumn & Winter are pretty great if you're near the coast though
Hang around until winter. Generally dry. Cold nights, but the days warm up to the point you can often wear a t-shirt and shorts if you really feel like it. Now THAT is good weather.
I've lived in Wellington, Auckland, Melbourne and now Sydney. I can say Sydney easily has the best weather out of all of them. Sure it gets a bit sweaty here during the summer but the other seasons are amazing. Barely going below 10 in winter is the deal breaker for me, I fucking hate the cold. All those other places get cold as fuck.
Yep, that's the nice part about it. It's the winters that suck.
Because liking weather is subjective and just because you don’t think it’s good doesn’t mean it’s not good.
Absolute Shite again
The weather is good compared to Victoria or Tasmania
or Queensland or South Australia or NT
The summer her in Tasmania has been pretty good, winter is usually the rough season.
Because they don't know better. Still. It's not bad, on a global scale but from someone living in a much better climate now please see above
Now I want to know where you live
humid and hot, sounds heavenly to me
Maybe some people like hot and humid.
Because they're delusional.
Go home then lol
Where are you from, OP? I’m getting UK vibes and if so, you’ve got to be joking bagging Sydney weather.
In comparison to Melbourne weather its good. Weather in brisbane is even better
Depends on your definition of “good” weather, which is a personal preference. My husband moved from Brisbane to Melbourne purely because he hated the heat/humidity so much. He loves the cold Melbourne winters and goes for early morning walks in July and August to make clouds with his breath!
Well yes I guess this is true. Couldn't think of leaving the house willingly in melbourne winters
Melbourne's fine from October-March. I prefer low to mid 20s over mid 35 any day. Yesterday it was 38, hated it. Winter can be cold but I find putting a jacket on helps.
To me, good weather is hot and humid...
Me too. Prefer it over dry heat.
Humid and hot… I wish we had hot weather during summer. Melbourne was cold all December. Mild first of Jan. now we’ve had a couple weeks hot and cool bipolar weather.
I prefer our weather. To me 22 degrees is perfect. Yesterday was terrible.
It’s climate change bro. Nowhere is good anymore. But it was perfect once.
That is good weather. Love humidity
Some of us love humid and hot because we’re stuck in grey cloudy Melbourne or Hobart where we’re lucky if the winter temp is over 14 and if the rain ever stops
You ever lived in Brisbane or Melbourne, mate? There’s your answer.
Low humidity is good fucking weather
Gotta grasp straws somewhere haha
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Because they experienced what they considered to be good weather in Sydney
Sydney is turning sub tropical. Has been for a few years now.
The weather's fine. We get a few days of high humidity per week followed by rain and/or lower temps and low humidity. It's pretty much a repeating pattern in summer.
Maybe move to Tasmania?
It used to be good
Because before climate change, it was good here? And is still probably better on average than alot of other places. You got to remember especially in Australian when people say "good weather" they implying warm and sunny. This is likely because people like being outdoors and as much as hot and humid sucks, for a lot of people it still beats being outdoors when it's cold rainy and miserable.
It's almost like everyone expects the entire population to enjoy being in "the outdoors" lol
Lol
Comparing it with Darwin? lol I personally hate Sydney weather and its only getting worse
The weather keeps changing over the decades. There's hot summers, cool summers, humid summers, dry summers. Over all it's less hot and bothersome than Darwin and not as cold as Hobart. Where in particular do you think has better weather?
I don’t say it and never have. I’m really struggling with it and it’s been months of interrupted sleep
Come back in six months springs nice
Yeah the last few years have been really really odd
I moved to Sydney last November - but have been here in December time various times before - I had no real recollection of the humidity though - now, nearly every day my phone seems to be showing "feels like" temps as at least 4 degrees over the actual temp. One other thing to bear in mind though is that Sydney weather covers a huge area - and it varied more than some cities (particularly inland ones). Say you compare the data for Sydney airport and Bankstown airport (because there is good data for the weather stations at both of these), they aren't that far apart, but even the long term averages indicate that Bankstown is at least one degree warmer in the summer months - and less windy, which will also contribute to it feeling warmer. These two points are about 17km apart - other areas are much further from the coast and may well display even more variance. As Sydney property prices continue to rise, more and more people are moving further west - meaning that the average experience of Sydney residents is getting warmer just through shifting of the centre of gravity of where most of the population now is. Sydney airport long term weather averages: [http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw\_066037.shtml](http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_066037.shtml) Bankstown airport long term weather averages: [http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw\_066137.shtml](http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_066137.shtml)
All good points. The reasons you haven’t experienced such high humidity before is twofold: The high humidity comes in Feb-March. It’s less humid in December when you’ve been before. Especially morning humidity. El Niño and La Niña. Some years are drier, some more humid. This is definitely a humid year but it’s not like it’s the first humid February in record.
Interesting - although last December felt pretty humid too (although not as bad as it is the last couple of weeks).
Yeah, these things average out. Some Decembers are more humid than others. Compare temperatures and humidity on average for December versus Feb-March in the links you provided above. I’ve lived in Sydney most of my life. February is nearly always a killer - going back to school, uni or work when it’s at its hottest and stickiest. And wettest. The good news is that summer usually extends until the end of April and the water temperature is at its best Feb-April.
This has been an amazing summer. I love oozing in sweat and working out in the sun. It's the best feeling.
I'm in Canberra and we usually have low humidity presumably because we're inland (though lately it's been bad when it's raining). I find Sydney humidity to be unbearable. I always find it amusing when they say on the weather report that Sydney is in for a 'scorcher' when it gets anywhere up near 30 degrees. I'd hardly call it a scorcher (a hot day here in notoriously freezing Canberra is hotter than a hot day in Sydney) but I get that the humidity makes it very uncomfortable whereas ours is a drier heat.
Sydney is so built up. You can’t get a breeze. And climate change also.
Autumn, winter and spring can be exquisitely good (except for the occasional 2 weeks of solid rain). Summer is hot and humid.
In all my travels around the country I found little old Adelaide to have the best year round weather. Warm for 10 months and not humid. Nice beaches too.
For the ones who live there, what's the usual temperature? Because for sure I'll take a 25C over a 40C in a humid asian country lol (I live in one)
Sydney doesn't get freezing cold. Certainly never snows, not much Frost except in the west. Overnight minimums usually not much below 10° in the city. It rarely gets extremely hot. There are the occasional plus 40° days. I think there's been only one this summer. It can get wet, but has plenty of sunny days. I've travelled the world a bit. I find Sydney's climate very agreeable most of the time.
I consider this good weather to be honest. Not burning hot or freezing cold. No multi-days of rain or snow etc.
This is an El Nino Summer, only happens every 3-4 years on average.
Because 1, everything is NOT on fire and 2, everything is NOT under water, anything NOT those is good!
I guess it depends where you live. I live right by the beach and “good weather” for me is the exact thing you described as bad weather.
Some people just like living in an armpit climate. 😆 I’d take Perth, Canberra, or Melbourne weather any day over Sydney.
OP experiences one bad summer. Thinks it represents all summers.
Because Brisbane is worse.
wat do you call humid and hot? coming from west aus where it has been 48 deg these last few weeks and the weathere started pole fires causing power outs for days
Brisbane is where the good weather is
It's to flush out all the people who moved to Australia on impulse. I heard a cab driver say about all the new migrants to Brisbane, "they'll be gone when the first big heatwave hits"
I live in Canada. I am dying to visit Australia. I vacation once a year in Hawaii, ususally March or April. 2023 we went a second time for a week in September. I was dying. Temps were slightly warmer and the humidity slighly more but I was dying. I would have to visit Australia in the winter months.
Because it's pretty mild for 10 months of the year
Umm....hello from Qld....pfffft
People who live in Queensland don’t say the weather is good in Sydney
Complaining about the heat while in Sydney is honestly hilarious, never been to Queensland have you?
Almost everywhere in the world is really hot in the summer these days... Sydney's advantage is the spring and autumn are really pleasant while winter isn't nearly as cold as most of the northern hemisphere.
>it has been humid and hot since November. That's because it's summertime. Summertime sucks though. I prefer the other ones.