Contents: Busselton History - Busselton Beaches - Landmarks and Historical Areas - Weather / Climate - Places of Worship in Busselton

Weather

Busselton's climate can best be described as mild Mediterranean.

Moderate weather conditions are enjoyed with an average maximum temperature of 22.1 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 11.1 degrees.

There's a hot summer with cooling afternoon sea breezes and a winter bringing cooler temperatures and rain that supports diverse agricultural industries including a world-famous grape-growing region.

Whilst summer officially runs December to February, you can generally expect the hot months to be January and February with lovely warm and sunny days October to December and March through April. The official summer temperature averages are 14º Celsius to an average daily maximum of 28º.

Summer is a great time to spend outdoors in Busselton – there's plenty of water where you can enjoy those sunny days or just sit under those trademark Busselton Peppermint trees.

If you've ever watched a cricket or other sporting broadcast live out of Western Australia you would have heard about the cooling afternoon sea breeze referred to on these broadcasts as the Fremantle Doctor.  Just remember, in WA nobody calls the breeze the Fremantle Doctor, it's simply a stock term in the visiting broadcasters' vocabulary …. in WA it's simply the sea breeze.

If you are new to WA, do remember to join the locals and “slip, slop, slap” – that's local talk for applying the sunscreen!  Remember, summer temperatures can reach into the mid to high 30's (or 100 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale).  Pack a hat and a Factor 30 sunscreen.

Autumn is a great time to visit Busselton.  The local holiday season is over and you'll get typically warm, sunny days where it's just extremely pleasant.  It will still be warm enough to swim and night time barbies should still be ok with the addition, perhaps, of a light coat or jacket.

This time of year is an ideal time to visit wineries and midweek there'll be few people about but do check the opening hours and days prior to setting out as some establishments limit their trading hours once the summer tourists have gone home.

In winter the average daily temperatures range from a 9º minimum to a maximum 19º Celsius and you'll still get your fair share of sunny days.  The annual average rainfall for Busselton is 864mm with the wettest period May to October.

After the rain, the state forests south of Busselton are spectacular and produce a fresh, aromatic smell all of their own.  There are numerous galleries and various outlets nestled throughout the forest and this a lovely time of the year to explore these treasures – especially if you've booked accommodation with an open wood fire.

There's an average 900mm of rain each year and the number of “wet” days will run somewhere between 120 to 150 days per year, usually from May through September.

In Spring, Busselton's wildflowers are in full bloom and the south west of Western Australia has more flowering plants than any place on earth.  The colours, aromas and variety of these flowering plants really needs to be soaked in and the months leading up to Christmas are the time to take in this experience.

Once again you'll match warm, sunny days with a lack of people so it is an ideal time of year to visit.

For those outside Australia, we Australians ignore the actual “true” season change dates so that summer runs 1 December to the end of February, Autumn (Fall) 1 March to end of May, Winter 1 June to end of August and Spring 1 September to 30 November.

As our summers tend to move through to March and locals try to make sense of the established Western seasons, it is worthwhile taking a look at the traditional Noongar seasons that divided the south west's climate into 6 rather than 4 separate seasons.

The Noongar year has six seasons, the first being from December to January. This season is called Birak where hot, easterly winds blow during the day and Noongar people used to burn sections of scrubland to force animals into the open to hunt.

From February to March, during Bunuru, the dry weather conditions meant Noongars moved to estuaries where fish constituted a large proportion of the seasonal diet.

During Djeran, in April to May, the weather was becoming cooler with winds from the south west. Fishing continued and bulbs and seeds were collected for food.

During the coldest season, Makuru (June to July), Noongars moved inland to hunt areas once rains had replenished inland water resources.

In Djilba, as the weather was becoming warmer from August to September, roots were collected and emus, possums and kangaroo were hunted.

In Kambarang, when rain was decreasing during October to November, families moved towards the coast where frogs, tortoises and freshwater crayfish were caught.

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