I have observed a lot of changes in Melbourne’s weather since I got here in June 2025. The first winter I was here was cold to me but I wanted to know how the summer will feel like in Melbourne.Is it getting warmer over time? So I checked historical temperature data from 1856 to 2025. The charts indicate temperature changes over the years and how the year that I arrived compares with the past.

170 years in one picture

Each stripe is one year. Blue years were cooler and red years hotter than the 1961–1990 average. Hover over a stripe to see the year. Source: Bureau of Meteorology (2026a, 2026b). Design inspired by Hawkins et al.(2025).

The warming took off after the 1950s

Grey line: each year’s average daily maximum. Red line: long-term trend. Red dot: 2025. Source: Bureau of Meteorology (2026a, 2026b). Olympic Park values from 2015 adjusted +0.75°C.

It’s not only summer: every month is warming

Each column is one decade. Each row is one month. Red means warmer than that month’s 1961–1990 average. Source: Bureau of Meteorology (2026a, 2026b).

The last 15 years, month by month

Each square is one month. The black box marks 2025. move your mouse to see how much warmer or cooler each month was than normal. Source: Bureau of Meteorology (2026a, 2026b).

The importance of long-term temperature patterns is that warmer temperature conditions can contribute to heat stress, energy demand and a strain on outdoor spaces. These charts indicate the temperatures measured at meteorological stations, but it will not tell us how hot each Melbourne suburb feels, or how the heat impacts each individual. Building design, access to cool spaces and shade are also key considerations in planning for a hotter city.

the data

Daily maximum temperatures come from two Bureau of Meteorology stations: Melbourne Regional Office (086071, 1856–2014) and Melbourne (Olympic Park) (086338, 2015–2025). The old site closed on 6 January 2015. During the 2013–2015 overlap, Olympic Park read about 0.75°C cooler on average, so its values were adjusted by +0.75°C. “Normal” means the 1961–1990 average, a standard climate comparison period. 2026 is excluded because the year is not complete. Recent data may not be fully quality-controlled.

References

Bureau of Meteorology. (2026a). Daily maximum temperature: Melbourne Regional Office (station 086071) [Data set]. Australian Government. http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/

Bureau of Meteorology. (2026b). Daily maximum temperature: Melbourne (Olympic Park) (station 086338) [Data set]. Australian Government. http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/

Hawkins, E., Williams, R. G., Young, P. J., Berardelli, J., Burgess, S. N., Highwood, E., Randel, W., Roussenov, V., Smith, D., & Woods Placky, B. (2025). Warming stripes spark climate conversations: From the ocean to the stratosphere. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 106(5), E964–E970. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0212.1

Acknowledgements

Generative AI (Claude/ChatGPT/OpenAI) was used to check grammar and spelling and to provide guidance on downloading data. It was also used to help explain the methodology.

The warming stripes design is inspired by Hawkins et al.(2025).