Kimberley Coast Climate

As far as temperatures go, the Kimberley is one of Australia’s hottest regions with mean temperatures floating around 27 degrees Celsius, even during the winter months of June and July. The hottest month of the year is November, with temperatures peaking just before the start of the wet season. The dry season lasts from May until October and has comparatively little rain, with sunny days and cosy nights. In the last few decades, the dry season has seen increasingly stronger rainfalls, a climate phenomenon not yet fully understood by meteorologists.

The Kimberley has a tropical monsoon climate, with the vast majority of rainfall occurring from November to April, in what is known as ‘The Wet’ season. During those months, most of the Kimberley’s rivers flood and cyclones are not uncommon, especially around the town of Broome, the Kimberley coast’s largest settlement. The annual rainfall is lowest to the southeast of the Kimberley, with 520 mm of rain, while it is highest in the northwest, with Mitchell River National Park experiencing up to 1,500 mm of rain on an average year.

Local Aboriginal people have six distinct seasons for Kimberley’s weather, based on temperature and rainfall fluctuations throughout the year.