Climate
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Clouds over the Reef |
The Great Barrier Reef lies completely within the tropics, starting in the south about the Tropic of Capricorn and extending 2300km north to the coast of Papua New Guinea.
Temperature
The weather is warm throughout the year over the whole Reef with relatively minor fluctuations in temperature between 27o and 34o Celsius.
Rainfall
The Reef lies within the cyclone belt, and the cyclone season known as the Wet, is from October to March. Late summer, February and March, tends to be the wettest time of the year. The peak monthly rainfall is about 175mm in Rockhampton in the south of the region, 350mm in Mackay and Townsville and 525mm in Cairns and the Cape York Peninsula. The period between March and October is the dry season.
