While some argue over whether Australia’s coldest city is Canberra with its frosts or Hobart with its cool summers, the rest of us know it is neither. The coldest major city in this country is Ballarat. Because when it comes to the simplest measurement of all, that of mean annual temperature, Ballarat is the cool-climate queen of Australia, sitting well below her nearest contenders at an invigorating 12.3°C.

Australia’s 20 major cities with a population over 100,000, ranked by mean annual temperature

1. Ballarat, VIC: 12.3°C
2. Hobart, TAS: 13.3°C
3. Canberra, ACT: 13.7°C
4. Geelong, VIC: 14.2°C
5. Bendigo, VIC: 14.7°C
6. Melbourne, VIC: 14.9°C
7. Albury, NSW: 15.4°C
8. Gosford/Central Coast, NSW: 17.3°C
9. Adelaide, SA: 17.5°C
10. Wollongong, NSW: 17.6°C
11. Toowoomba, QLD: 18.0°C
12. Newcastle, NSW: 18.7°C
13. Sydney, NSW: 18.8°C
14. Perth, WA: 18.9°C
15. Sunshine Coast, QLD: 20.8°C
16. Gold Coast, QLD: 21.3°C
17. Brisbane, QLD: 21.6°C
18. Townsville, QLD: 24.8°C
19. Cairns, QLD: 25.3°C
20. Darwin, NT: 27.8°C

Annual averages:

• Daily mean temperature: 12.3°C
• Daily mean maximum: 17.5°C
• Daily mean minimum: 7.1°C
• Rainfall: 683mm
• Number of days of rain: 167
• Daily wind run: 455km (19km/h)

All-time records:

• Highest temperature: 44.1°C
• Lowest temperature: -6.0°C
• Lowest ground temperature: -11.7°C
• Highest annual rainfall: 996mm
• Lowest annual rainfall: 302mm
• Highest wind gust: 117km/h

Ballarat's climate over time