Lord Howe Island has a warm sub-tropical climate. The average summer temperature range is 20-25 degrees Celsius, while the average winter temperature range is 14-20 degrees Celsius. The average annual rainfall of 1470mm is evenly distributed throughout the year, but sometimes it seems like it all falls in one day.
Statistics aside, Lord Howe’s climate is ideal. When the Australian mainland is 30-40 degrees Celsius in summer, Lord Howe provides some welcome relief from the heat. When the southern states are cold in winter, Lord Howe is warm. Even though the island is roughly the same latitude as Port Macquarie in NSW, its warm ocean currents buffer the climate from extremes and make the temperatures more like the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. In winter, Lord Howe is regularly the ‘warmest place in NSW’ on the ABC News.
The weather is relatively stable and sunny all year round, although like any Pacific island, we have some moody days with big storms, amazing rainbows and dramatic cloud formations. The beauty of an island, though, is that there’s always a sheltered sunny spot where the wind is ‘off-shore’.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has a field office on Lord Howe Island – it’s been operating since 1939. You can check the daily forecast on the BOM website.
