Australian Alps - climate
Although dominated by a montane climate, with no dry season and a mild summer (Stern et al. 2000), the Australian Alps Bioregion contains a patch of true alpine climate. This area, in the southwest of the bioregion presents the only example of alpine and sub-alpine climate in NSW, characterised by no dry season and a cool summer.
The extreme climatic gradient across the alpine ranges is reflected in the soil and vegetation that pass from lowland eucalypt forest on texture contrast soils to alpine herbfield on organic uniform soils at the highest elevations. Above 1,400 m, snow may persist for 4 to 6 months and frost can occur throughout the year. The northeastern tip of the bioregion is representative of the temperate zone, which prevails in the New England Tableland, South Eastern Highlands and Sydney Basin bioregions where there is a warm summer and no dry season (Stern et al. 2000).
| Australian Alps Bioregion - climate variable information |
|---|
| Mean annual temperature | 3-12°C |
| Minimum average monthly temperature | -7-0.4°C |
| Maximum average monthly temperature | 15.9-29.5°C |
| Mean annual rainfall | 606-2344mm |
| Minimum average monthly rainfall | 44-126mm |
| Maximum average monthly rainfall | 63-295mm |
Page last updated: 27 February 2011
