Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Best season to travel to Australia.

I live in San Diego. We are considering going in August. Just how cold does it get at that time in Australia?

Totally depends on where you go in Australia. What is the weather like in the US in January? The answer depends on if you are visiting San Diego or Syracuse.

In August you can hit the snow ski fields on NSW and VIC, or you can snorkle the reefs of the Qld and WA coasts.

Being from San Diego I doubt you will want to be swimming at Boni Beach (Sydney), though there will be plenty of people doing just that (mostly Victorian's heading north to thaw out).

Second NM's observation - you can pretty much tailor an Australian winter experience to be anything, weather-wise!

For a more detailed picture that might help you out:
August average daily maximum (http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/climatology/temperature/hires_maxt/aus/mxtozaug.gif) and August average daily minimum (http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/climatology/temperature/hires_mint/aus/mntozaug.gif) temperatures. Oh, and before you ask, August average rainfall (http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/climatology/rainfall/hires_rn/aus/rnozaug.gif)

Some random observations: winter is a really great time to do the far north of Australia as it's not unbearably hot but still very pleasant. Winter is Melbourne's wetter season. And even though you get some warm daytime temperatures in places like BNE, those nights are often as cold as SYD or MEL.

Sounds like northern Australia is similar to San Diego in terms of winters... and southern is closer to a northern US or even Canadian winter?

That's it, you've got the general idea, except it doesn't get nearly as cold in the southern areas as it does in northern US or Canada.

None of the major Australian cities get snow blizzards like the northern parts of the American continent. If an Australian state capital city actually gets even a light snow sprinkling in the depths of winter, that is considered huge headline news (i.e. it happens once in a blue moon). Australia does have snowfields in the inland of the southern states, but wintersports conditions are extrememly variable from year to year depending on if they are lucky enough to get enough snow.

Hope that helps.

In Sydney, August is one of the loveliest months - day after day of clear blue skies, no wind, and warm temperatures in the sunshine (maximum often around 18-21 deg C) with quite chilly nights (around 7-10 deg C). You can literally go for weeks without a cloud in the sky and it is very settled. The only downside is it gets dark early (by 5.45pm) but it gets light early too. It will sometimes get really warm - last year I flew back from a skiing trip to NZ in the second week of August to find 33 deg C temperatures in Sydney - but that was freak weather!

By contrast, right now is Sydney's worst time of year weather-wise - although it is warmer, it is much wetter and more unsettled. The weather changes to the lovely winter pattern around mid- to late-June. Spring is lovely too, though a bit windier; by summertime it's getting a bit more showery and unsettled and there's a nasty humid patch in about February. Then a brief burst of lovely early autumn weather before hitting the showers again in April.

There you have it - a year in the life of Sydney weather! (Speaking of lives - I really should go find one.)

By the way, MrsDrD, you do make the most well-informed and authoritative posts on everything from fine wine to frequent flying to the weather! Just thought I'd say how much I enjoy reading them.