The climate of Brisbane
Cfa Humid subtropical. Hot, humid summers and mild winters, with rain all year. No dry season. Summers are hot and sticky, winters are mild, and thunderstorms are common in the warm months.
Brisbane is south of the equator, so its seasons run the opposite way to those in Europe: summer falls in December to February and winter in June to August. The 1901 to 1930 map puts Brisbane in the same zone, Cfa.
Brisbane: then, now and by 2100
| Map | Climate zone | Compared with now |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 to 1930 | Cfa Humid subtropical | Same as now |
| 1991 to 2020 (now) | Cfa Humid subtropical | - |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP1-2.6 (low emissions) | Cfa Humid subtropical | Same as now |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP2-4.5 (middle of the road) | Cfa Humid subtropical | Same as now |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP5-8.5 (high emissions) | Aw Tropical savannah | Different from now |
The 2071 to 2099 rows are model projections under three emissions scenarios, not forecasts. The 1901 to 1930 row is a reconstruction. All come from Beck et al. (2023).
Under the middle-of-the-road scenario (SSP2-4.5), the model keeps Brisbane in Cfa in 2071 to 2099. Under the high-emissions scenario (SSP5-8.5) it is Aw (tropical savannah).
Cities with the same climate as Brisbane
Other big cities that are Cfa (humid subtropical) in 1991 to 2020, at most two per country:
- Shanghai, China
- Chongqing, China
- São Paulo, Brazil
- Tokyo, Japan
- New York City, United States
- Taipei, Taiwan
- Sydney, Australia
- New Taipei City, Taiwan
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Population of Brisbane from GeoNames: 2,780,063 (rank 143 in our list of 1,000). Climate data: Beck et al. (2023), CC BY 4.0. Data sources and licences.