Weather in Melbourne - is it as bad as they say during the year?

Melbourne has the most disgustingly coldest weather in Australia. We get 9 months of winter 1 month of summer and 2 months of autumn with no spring whatsoever. It is extremely windy and dry. It only rains when you wash the car. Occasionally you get a hot day but it will get cold by late afternoon which requires turning on the heater. I don't believe there is a more disgustingly vile climate in the world than Melbourne. Don't bother moving here.

Melbourne has four distinct seasons, it's proximity to the sea has a moderating influence. If you are moving to Melbourne from another mainland city you may feel cold in the winter months, but, its a great time to wear those warm clothes and visit Victoria's fantastic snowfields. Frosty days are very rare in Melbourne. We get around a dozen very hot days in summer,and I mean HOT, over 38c,I think Melbourne holds the record for the highest capital city temperature in Australia, around 47c, but high humidity days are very rare. I've lived in Brisbane and Perth and found Brisbane too humid with no distinct seasons and Perth has very long, hot, dry, summers, but all Australian capitals offer a fantastic lifestyle that is envied worldwide. You will never get bored with Melbourne's weather.

It's about preference. I'm from Canada and have lived in Melbourne for 3 years. I like the weather here. It's a Mediterranean climate but more variable day to day (and hour to hour). If you like predictable, long stretches of beach weather, next to Hobart it's your worst option among Australian capitals cities. The average January high is 26, but it's rarely average: it can be 40 at 2 p.m. and once the (almost invariably short) heat wave breaks, 22 a couple of hours later. A 14 degree sunny and calm winter day is gorgeous; a 14 degree cloudy and windy winter day is pretty miserable. I bike and cycle a lot and I find the wind the most off-putting feature of Melbourne. The best for me is the relative lack of humidity - I grew up in a dry prairie climate and find hot and muggy debilitating.

I would point out that the country is the canary in the coal mine for climate change and will be the first to burn up if it gets out of hand, in which case Melbourne will be the last metropolis standing.

I have heard many Australians declare that Melbourne is just too cold for them. I get it; even though I'm from a place where the average high in the coldest winter month is -14 (that's minus 14), in 3 years my sense of thermoregulation has adapted and I can complain about 10 degrees and drizzly with the best of them. In my limited experience most Australian cities are by world standards extremely pleasant places to live (though fearsomely expensive). The best option is the one that ticks off your priority "must haves." If the most important variable is year-round tropical or semi-tropical weather, don't pick Melbourne. If other factors, like architecture, green space, and general livability are more important, it's a good choice.

if you are looking for statistics you will find them here http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_086282.shtml

but if you are looking for a place to live there are other things to consider don't forget that Melbourne was voted "The most livable city of the world" for 3 years only loosing the title to "Vienna". It is certainly the most livable city of Australia

Brilliant trail guys and shows the split views I am used to hearing living in Melbourne. I am from the South coast of England, but then spent 8 years in NSW before moving to Melbourne. Is the weather slightly better than where I am from originally? Yes. Is it similar or comparable to NSW outside of Jan and Feb? No. And thats fine, but for us who have 3 young children and want them outside not inside, it has been hard having an extended winter and more time at the coffee shop to meet people, rather than grabbing a take away an hanging at the playground enjoying the 16-18 degree norm, instead of 11-14. It is all about perspective and what you are used to, but the biggest realisation for us, is that the overnight temps drop away even in summer and remove the breakfasts outside in the morning completely (maybe 3 days a year) or the late nights on the alfresco, unless you are rugged up or want to have the gas heater on. Great city, great by the bay in Mount Eliza where we live, wrong climate for us and fed up of the uk family comparing their weather to ours! Thanks

There is no doubt that Melbourne in winter is colder than other mainland cities,but overall it is NOT that bad.The best way to describe it is "changeable".Winter in general is fairly cold.but you can still have some nice days.Autumn is cool but pretty clear.Spring is the season that Melbourne gets its main reputation from.as its very unpredictable.Hot one day, cold the next and the most rainfall for the year.Speaking of rainfall,not many people know that rainfall per year less than either Sydney or Brisbane.but it has more rainy days(in other words lots of drizzle).Summer can be HOT,but a couple of hot days is usually followed by a cool change,and many summer days can de mild also.Hope all this helps!

Wow, a lot of emotive answers here, so let's try to give a more objective and factual one.

Firstly, "good" and "bad" are subjective terms, some people don't like the cold, others don't like heat, some prefer dry heat, others prefer humidity, so it's important to keep that in mind.

Melbourne has a temperate oceanic climate with almost no humidity, whereas SE QLD and NSW have humid sub-tropical climates, which is the main difference.

Again, either one can be good or bad depending on your preference.

Sydney and Brisbane have a lot more sunny days, more consistently warm temperatures and rarely get cold by world standards. However, they also both have stifling and oppressive humidity where 27 can feel hotter than 35 in Melbourne; and both also get a LOT more rain than Melbourne (particularly Sydney).

Melbourne experiences far more variable temperatures year round. Any season can swing violently from day to day, but for the most part:
- Jan to March are the hottest months, with intermittent heatwaves (35-40+), usually very little rain unless impacted by an El Nino event like this year, and it's a very dry heat. When it's 35 you can walk in the shade and feel a cool seabreeze, but the sun is scorching. March is the nicest month of the year, often consistently 25-30 with no rain or humidity. Heatwaves are usually followed by a sudden drop to 20 for a few days, which can be refreshing after 40.
- April is the only true autumn month. It cools down quickly, is changeable (25 one day and 15 the next) and the leaves fall.
- May to September is a long 5 month winter. Cold, grey, windy, but occasional pleasant days around 17-18 with sunshine to break it up. 18 can feel over 20 in the sun but feel more like 15 in the shade with the wind.
- October to December is the most unpredictable time. It starts warming up (November and December start getting sporadic days over 30), is most often over 20 but still has cold days in the teens, and October is the wettest month of the year.

Despite its rainy reputation, Melbourne is the second driest capital in Australia. Melbourne's wettest month has less average rainfall than Sydney's driest month.

The reason isn't less days with rain, but that rain most commonly passes over in 10 minutes and disappears. There are very few days that rain heavily or for a long period.

The upside to that is that you rarely need to cancel anything due to rain: just wait 10 minutes until it passes. Heavy rain more often lasts for hours in Sydney so it gets more mm.

Due to its position further south, Melbourne has longer daylight in summer (around 16 hours) and shorter in winter (only around 8 hours) than the northern states.

That adds to the long Melbourne winters having a tendency to feel dark, depressing and dismal. By contrast, summer is really pleasant if you like heat but not humidity.

That all depends on preference though. I know Qlders who can't cope with the hot dry Melbourne heatwaves because they're accustomed to humidity. Melburnians are more likely to struggle in the oppressive humidity of Sydney and Brisbane.

Bottom line: it depends what you like and if you're more comfortable in dry (albeit colder) climates or humid/tropical climates.

It shouldn't be assumed that everyone's preference is the tropical humidity of Florida, Queensland, Fiji, Bali, etc.

Melbourne is more variable, cold and miserable in winter but a lot less rain, no humidity, dry heat with extreme heatwaves in summer usually followed by a cool stretch, and as others have mentioned the wind can be the worst factor.

Sydney and Brisbane are warmer and sunnier, more consistent, almost no real cold weather, but also a lot wetter with heavier rain and stifling humidity.

* I should note, this particular summer is useless to try to illustrate examples from, because the El Nino event this year is causing atypical weather patterns. When there are tropical storms up north, it pushes more rain and down to Victoria than usual (which in summer is generally almost none) which happens once every few years and this is one. By contrast, two years ago March & April had 0mm of rain.

Not at all! I have lived in Canberra, Wollongong, Albury, and Darwin (each for years). Melbourne has a better climate than any of them.

Summers are not too hot (like Sydney or Wollongong), winters are not too cold (like Canberra), it's never too humid (like Darwin). Yeah, sometimes the weather changes a bit in a day, big whoop! :D

Another freezing day in Melbourne. Coldest in 36 years. I had some plants to plant but it was too cold to go outside: feel like temperature of 9o. I stayed inside with the heater running all day. Gotta love Melbourne! And its mid-Spring here (in this cold hole).

Rug up everyone who dislikes the cold! 3 degrees tonight in Melbourne-town and frost forecast. Its technically mid-Spring, which means we have just two more months of cold, wet, blustery, wintry days to come before we have our 3 warm months. Hang in there! Gotta love Melbourne!

@johns158 how often does that happen? You forgot to mention the storm and rain that occurred after out of no where i got drenched walking again.

The only people who truly defend melbournes weather are people that were born and bred here and haven't really lived anywhere else.
I actually feel sad for them because they have no idea how pleasant life can be living with blue skies.

Im currently in stage 4 lockdown enduring my 3rd Melbourne winter with plenty of time on my hands to make a decision - I'm not wasting another year of my life in this dreary hell. I'll be moving back to northern NSW as soon as the borders open.

Melbourne is a bleak and miserable hole.
The worst place I've ever lived.
The dreary weather has a massive impact on the way you live your life here, which is basically inside on the couch with the heaters going for 8 months of the year. The people reflect this mood, people are rude and unfriendly and just damn miserable.
If you are filthy rich and can afford an apartment in the city and can eat out at restaurants every night and brunch at cafes all day then maaaaybe it would be bearable, but to live an ordinary life in the suburbs, you just wouldn't......you'd move north, lol.

It depends. I have lived in Sydney and Melbourne extensively. So I understand the weather in both.
Each year the weather can be different in Melbourne. Some years it will feel like a double very dry (no rain) hot summer and other times it will feel like it will miss summer.
The winter can be the same. Some years mild other years freezing.
I wouldnt say most of the time it is cold. No. Id say 5 months is cold. 2-3 months hot. And 4 months or so is really nice mild in between weather.

Today is 28th June, proper winter. Sure it's only 11 degrees right now but it's still, crisp, & fresh & the sunshine has that glorious warmth to it. Yesterday was a bit cold for a tee & thin hoodie for me, but added a thicker layer & no probs. I love the 4 seasons. Today I am absolutely loving the sun as I missed it yesterday. If from Syd or north you will find it cooler & different for sure. But good different imo.

Brenda your the type that gets cold in 20 degree weather.
Melbourne is not for you.
Move to QLD immediately.
I'm sure you would then complain about how hot & humid it is there.

I have not been in Melbourne too long coming from the UK just last year. So far the weather has been fairly stable but those days where it was in the 40 range was uncomfortable but in a few days it was back down again. The winter does not bother me, the UK can almost feel like a year long winter in comparison.
One thing that took me by surprise though was the hail storm on the 19th January, it caused damage to skylights, roof tiles and the veranda polycarb corrugation was shredded. Thankfully my car was in the carport at the time so no damage there.

We are fortunate here in Australia that you can live in different climate zones and people often move from Queensland to Melbourne because they hate the heat. If you dont like cold nights move to the tropics, simply put, there are choices out there instead of whingeing about it.

Main problem with the weather in Melbourne is the fact that Australia has the worst construction industry in the western world with zero building standards.

32 degrees C in Melbourne now at 6pm.
And loving it...

Curled up by the heater tonight here in Melbourne-town. 16o! It’s mid-Summer.

Interesting stream of responses. I live in Melbourne for family and work reasons and often say people don’t generally move to Melbourne for the weather. I find the winters freezing and long, and suffer the winter badly. The extended grey gets me down. As others have noted, compared to many other regions it’s not reliably great for outdoors. Indigenous knowledge recognises 7-8 climatic seasons rather than the introduced European 4 seasons.

The weather is not so great...im From France and has been living in Melbourne for 6years I love this town but I don't like the weather. It is never consistent with the season. And 4seasons in 1 day is not a myth. The good thing is that even if winter is pretty cold you can have some lovely sunny day not too cold but in summer the weather is crazy from very high temperature to cold...

Good grief! And to think us Poms have a reputation for spending our time constantly discussing/arguing/whining over weather!

Anyway, for all the moaning and groaning over which part of Australia has better weather (depending entirely on your individual tastes surely?), those of us lucky enough to live in Edinburgh, Scotland know that our weather beats all. Those balmy days of summer with occasional highs of 21/22, rare days of 25/26 and once a year day of 29/30 always feel too hot as we are accustomed and conditioned to appreciating anything above 16! Winter is spent appreciating anything above 8/9 and we often rush outdoors accordingly! Just means we are much tougher than you....

Bad weather coming up for some this weekend in Melbourne. High 20s. Brrr/yanicold4life will be upset. But it’s fine - come Monday - back to freezing! Hang in there cold lovers!

i spent over 30 years living in melbourne, then the UK and now have been in Montreal for a few years where -40 and mounds of snow are normal. I have been here for a couple months, and I have not felt so cold in my life. The wind is bitterly cold, miserable overcast days 50% of the time, and housing with bad heating and insulation. It is a lot more easy to live in places that have less wind, and better heating/insulation.

Miss Melbourne dearly. One bad thing is weather. Today’s weather in Sunshine Coast Qld reminds me of Melb. Miserable gray weather. Summer here is so horrible oppressive heat and humidity. Sad sunset 6:30 not 9pm.

I think Melbourne should move to a better climate then it truly would have it all.

I grew up in northern nsw and then spent 18 years in brisbane.
I moved to melbourne 2 years ago where I met my partner who was born and bred here.
I HATE melbourne and its weather.
Did you know statistically melbourne has more than 160 over cast days a year? Thats 6 months of grey....
It really is a miserable place to live, I lay there at night and long for the blue skies of Qld. Life is so much better when the sun is shinning. My partner doesnt want to move north so I will probably have to leave him cause living in melbourne is unbareable, even for love.

Brenda, someone already made this comment and I agree. If you dont like it, move. I hate living in Victoria and would move tomorrow if my family wasn't rooted here. I have lived in the tropics overseas for 10 years, and also QLD previously. Life is so much better waking up to sunshine. I really feel that spending your life discussuing/complaining about the weather, or worse, hoping for sunshine is stupid and a wasted life. I literally spring out of bed to a clear sky. Victoria on the other hand feels like groundhog day, waking to clouds, what is the point? SOD = me. But it goes on for 9 months of the year, not 3. And yes........Victorian summer's are very short lived and erratic. The only people who defend Victoria's weather are ignorant and/or in denial.

Well, I was wrong re this year. Only March 3 and Ive needed to run the heating since yesterday to keep the temperature at a comfortable 21 degrees. Only stopped using the ducted heating mid-December. ... Just 9 weeks of summer this year and now were back to running our heaters and heavy clothes again for the next nine months. Usually winter runs 7-8 months in Melbourne, but sometimes its nine.

I was born in Melbourne and love it here. But the weather is so bad. I lived in North Queensland a few years ago and I loved it but got sick of the humidity and moved home after a couple of years. I think northern NSW on the coast is where I will finally settle when I retire, I definitely like the warm weather opposed to cold weather but like I said Melbourne is the best city.

Typically the temperature falls to much less than 7 overnight. Frosts are common. If you need to park your car out, prepare for a layer of windshield ice in the morning. Overnight temperatures are typically around 4 but often drop as low as 1 or 2 in winter. That’s colder than your refrigerator. Melbourne may not be as cold as some places, but cold is cold and cold it is and if you don’t like cold weather, this is not the city for you. I agree as well that there are too many of us here now for our facilities.

With 3000 people moving to Melbourne each week I as a Melburnian will try to convince you not to come as it’s putting a lot of pressure on our infrastructure. I love the Melbourne climate, I don’t want to live in a place that has the same weather all year round as thats just plain boring! With winter temperatures between 7 and 14° many people in Europe or North America would envy a winter like that. I just think in Australia that people whinge too much about a cool climate. We don’t get snow fall in the Melbourne area which means we don’t have all the problems that other parts of the experiences with harsh winters.

Melbourne is cold and often wet most of the year. We have two seasons: really cold (8 months of year) and steaming hot. The cold, wet weather begins in May and continues through to mid-December. Mid-December through mid-March are the hot, sunny months. Just three. April runs hot and cold. So eight months very cold, dark and wet: a heavy coat needed every day; three months of, sometimes intense, heat and one month (April) variable. If you like heat and sunshine, Melbourne’s weather just stinks; no two-ways about it.