Sydney weather in August

August in Sydney: cool, rainy, with clean air — an excellent time to visit.

Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis

Sydney🇦🇺 Australia · Australian East Coast · City81
  1. 82Jan
  2. 80Feb
  3. 76Mar
  4. 85Apr
  5. 83May
  6. 77Jun
  7. 78Jul
  8. 81Aug
  9. 89Sep
  10. 88Oct
  11. 87Nov
  12. 87Dec

#8 of 12 months in Sydney · #651 of 1413 destinations to visit in August · comfort 81/100 (tier A)

Days
18°C
Nights
11°C
Wet days
8
Sun
9 h
Humidity
68%
Daylight
11 h
Sydney, Australia
Photo: Yifan Lai · Pexels

What August is like in Sydney

Cold mornings and clear dry days, often the sunniest of the winter months, with whales still going by.

shoulder

confidence: high

Traveller notes on Sydney in August

Other months in Sydney

Regulars call this a genuine favourite, still warm without summer's oppressive humidity, with the second half of the month specifically named as one of the best weather stretches of the year here. Our row backs the pleasant read, 22.6C over 16.8C nights, with 114.4mm of rain across 8.3 days. Regulars on the Northern Beaches say the sea stays fine for swimming through this month and is often warmer than it runs in spring, right on the cusp before the water properly cools. Evenings do turn cool enough for a light jacket over a thin layer, a real contrast to the warm afternoons. The sea sits at 21.7C. The record: humidity 74 percent, 9.2 hours of sun, a 14.2 kph wind and AQI 45.
HumidityGoneStillWarmEnoughToSwim · April · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
Regulars split this month at its own midpoint: early December can be genuinely beautiful and not that humid, while the run-up to Christmas turns hotter and more crowded as the holiday hype builds - humidity itself does not peak until January. Our row averages across both halves at 23.5C reading as 25C, with 86.6mm of rain across 9.6 days. Their sea estimate runs warmer than our column - they say 25C and above, we read 20.4C - which is the early-summer gap between a beach that has not fully warmed and a forecast built on the season's later weeks; either way a coastal breeze keeps the humidity milder than the air temperature alone suggests. The record: humidity 72 percent, 11.2 hours of sun, a 19.1 kph wind and AQI 49.
EarlyDecemberBeforeTheHumidityBuilds · December · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
The swimming season here opens on the first weekend of October and runs to the last of March, which makes this month the start rather than the middle - the water is about 17C by their reckoning and 19C by our column, swimmable if you are keen and cold if you are not. The weather is spring at its most variable: thirty degrees one day, barely twenty and raining the next, with fresh evenings either way. Our averages read 20.9C over 15.3C with 89.5mm across 8.5 days. The jacarandas begin mid-October and run to mid-November, with Kirribilli and the Woolwich ferry the streets people name. The record: humidity 69 percent, 10.2 hours of sun and AQI 45.
SwimSeasonOpensThisWeekend · October · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
September is early spring in Sydney: cool-to-warm sunny days, low humidity, and sunshine reliable enough that it is the city's busy wedding month. The caveat regulars attach is that it is the first month of spring and notoriously unpredictable - summery or even hot one day, properly cold the next - so the packing is layered. Two September draws come with it: the jacarandas begin, with McDougall Street in Kirribilli the name everyone gives and the ferry to Woolwich the quieter alternative, and the whales are still passing, though one September report notes the wind on the boat was properly cold. The record: 20C days that feel like 19C, 13.2C nights, 6.6 precipitation days carrying 73.4mm and an 18.3C sea.
TheWeddingMonth · September · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗

Year-round notes are on Sydney's overview. Add your own note from Sydney's card on the map.

Sydney climate normals — August

Daytime high18°C / 64°F🙂 cool
Nighttime low11°C / 52°F
Feels like (high)15°C / 59°F
Sea temperature18°C / 64°F🧊 bracing
Rainfall97 mm / 3.8 in🌧 rainy
Rainy days8 days
Humidity68%💧 humid
Dew point6°C / 43°F
Sunshine9 h/day
Daylight10.9 h
Wind16 km/h / 10 mph
Air quality (US AQI)46🍃 good

Monthly averages from ERA5 reanalysis. AQI is the mean US Air Quality Index for the month.

Crowds in Sydney in August

How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.

Busybetween the peaks, City2Surf, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet

Best months for Sydney's weather

Ranked by this destination's own climate comfort score across the year — a different thing from how busy it gets (see Crowds above).

Fair weatherSydney's weather doesn't swing hard through the year — comfort stays fairly steady in every month.

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What's on in Sydney in August

Recurring seasonal events, natural spectacles, closures and holidays — curated and sourced.

  • Nature

    Humpback migration

    15 May – 15 Nov · usuallyWildlife season

    Twenty thousand humpbacks pass the headlands, north from May to July and back with calves from September. North Head and Cape Solander need no boat.

  • Festival

    City2Surf

    9 AugSporting eventCrowdedClosures

    Ninety thousand people run fourteen kilometres from the city to Bondi on a Sunday in August, which closes New South Head Road and the eastern beaches for the morning. Source ↗

What's on around the world in August →

Nearby, and something's on

Within 300 km of Sydney — a day trip or a short hop — with something on this month. Never part of the comfort score.

Where is Sydney?

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Sydney in August — FAQ

Is August a good time to visit Sydney?
August in Sydney: cool, rainy, with clean air — an excellent time to visit. It ranks #8 of 12 months for Sydney on SeasonMap's comfort score (81/100).
What is the weather like in Sydney in August?
In August, Sydney averages a daily high of 17.9°C and a low of 11.2°C, with about 97.4 mm of rain over roughly 7.9 rainy days.
What is the air quality in Sydney in August?
Sydney has a mean US Air Quality Index of about 46 in August.

Within 300 km: Katoomba's Yulefest on 1 Jun – 31 Aug, and Canberra's Frost and morning fog around 15 May – 31 Aug.