What is the world record for wind speed?

408 km/h (253 mph), recorded at Barrow Island in Western Australia on 10 April 1996 during Tropical Cyclone Olivia. The WMO verified this as the world record in 2010. Barrow Island is a remote offshore island with an unobstructed fetch of hundreds of kilometres.

What is the hottest temperature ever recorded in Australia?

50.7°C (123.3°F), first recorded at Oodnadatta in South Australia on 2 January 1960, then equalled at Onslow in Western Australia on 13 January 2022. The interior of Australia is one of the most consistently hot regions on Earth, regularly exceeding 45°C in summer.

Where is the wettest place in New Zealand?

Milford Sound in Fiordland receives around 7,000mm of rainfall per year on average, making it one of the wettest permanently inhabited places on Earth. Its dramatic topography forces the relentless Southern Ocean westerlies upward. Some years exceed 9,000mm.

Oceania

Oceania spans from tropical Australia to the subantarctic Southern Ocean, taking in some of the world's most extreme weather environments. It holds the outright world record for wind speed and regularly produces temperature extremes that rival anywhere else on Earth.

Wind

WORLD RECORD WIND GUST

408 km/h

253 mph · WMO world record, verified 2010

Barrow Island

Western Australia · 10 April 1996

The WMO-recognised world record for highest wind gust at a surface weather station. Recorded during Tropical Cyclone Olivia. Barrow Island is a remote offshore island with no topographic barriers -- the anemometer had an unobstructed fetch of hundreds of kilometres. The WMO verified this record in 2010.

MOST INTENSE CYCLONE LANDFALL (SUSTAINED WINDS)

~267 km/h

~166 mph sustained

Tropical Cyclone Monica

Northern Australia · 24 April 2006

One of the most intense tropical cyclones ever to make landfall in Australia by sustained wind speed. The region between the Coral Sea and the northwest of Australia is one of the world's most active cyclone basins.

Highest Temperatures

AUSTRALIA ALL-TIME RECORD HIGH

50.7°C

123.3°F · Equalled at Onslow, WA, 13 January 2022

Oodnadatta

South Australia · 2 January 1960

Australia's all-time record, equalled 62 years later at Onslow in Western Australia. The interior of Australia is one of the most consistently hot regions on Earth -- the desert interior regularly exceeds 45°C in summer and the lack of moisture means no evaporative cooling.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA EXTREME HEAT

48.2°C

118.8°F

Northam

Western Australia · 13 January 2022

Part of the same heat event that produced the Onslow record. Western Australia's interior and northern regions experience some of the most intense heat on Earth outside the Arabian Peninsula.

Lowest Temperatures

AUSTRALIA ALL-TIME RECORD LOW

-23.0°C

-9.4°F

Charlotte Pass

New South Wales, Australia · 29 June 1994

Australia's lowest recorded temperature. The Snowy Mountains see genuine alpine conditions in winter despite the continent's reputation for heat.

NEW ZEALAND ALL-TIME RECORD LOW

-25.6°C

-14.1°F

Ophir

Central Otago, New Zealand · 3 July 1995

The lowest temperature ever recorded in New Zealand. Central Otago's inland basins trap cold air during winter anticyclones, creating frost hollows that rival highland Europe for winter severity.

Precipitation

WETTEST LOCATION IN NEW ZEALAND

~7,000 mm

~275 inches annual average · Some years exceed 9,000mm

Milford Sound

Fiordland, New Zealand

One of the wettest permanently inhabited places on Earth. Milford Sound's dramatic topography forces the relentless Southern Ocean westerlies upward, extracting extraordinary quantities of rainfall. Some years exceed 9,000mm.

WETTEST LOCATION IN AUSTRALIA

~8,000 mm+

~315 inches annual average

Mount Bellenden Ker

Queensland, Australia

The wettest location in Australia and one of the wettest in the southern hemisphere. The summit intercepts tropical moisture from the Coral Sea brought ashore by persistent easterly trade winds.