Climate risk in Sydney
New South Wales, Australia · 4.6M people in the urban area
What threatens Sydney most
- Water stress
- High WRI Aqueduct
- Earthquake
- Moderate GSHAP
- Drought
- Low-Medium WRI Aqueduct
Tsunamis and landslides are not rated for a single city here. Climate risk profile of Australia
Sydney had 19 days with 20 mm of rain or more in 2025.
Melbourne: 2 days.
The highest of the 5 large cities in Australia.
Sydney's climate in the 2050s
2041-2060 compared with 1991-2020, moderate emissions
By the 2050s, Sydney's climate will still be more like its own today than any other large city's. The nearest other is Porto Alegre (Brazil).
+1.2°C
Mean temperature over the year
+1.4°C
Highest in the warmest month
+0.9°C
Lowest in the coldest month
-4%
Precipitation over the year
Under high emissions, the nearest is Porto Alegre (Brazil), and only in part.
Its own climate today is 3.7 σ away. How close the match is: 4.2 σ to the climate of Porto Alegre today, where under 2 is close and over 4 is no match (Mahony et al. 2017). 3 of 3 climate model runs name the same city. Seasonal temperature and rain are compared, not extremes, city heat or the sea.
Hazards at Sydney
Read at the city's centre and compared with the Atlas's 630 large cities. Moderate emissions is the IPCC's scenario SSP2-4.5.
| Hazard | Sydney | Among large cities | In Australia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot days in 2025, over 35 °C | 0 days | ||
| Tropical nights in 2025, over 20 °C | 86 days | Among large cities: above 44% | In Australia: 2 of 5 |
| Hottest day of 2025 | 32.4°C | Among large cities: above 18% | In Australia: 5 of 5 |
| Warming by 2050, moderate emissions | +1.4°C | Among large cities: above 13% | In Australia: 3 of 5 |
| Days with 20 mm of rain or more in 2025 | 19 days | Among large cities: above 82% | In Australia: 1 of 5 |
| River flood depth, 100-year event | Dry at the city centre point | ||
| Coastal flood depth, 100-year event | Dry at the city centre point | ||
| Sea level rise by 2050, moderate emissions | 198 mm | Among large cities: above 34% | In Australia: 3 of 5 |
| Water stress | High (40-80%) | Among large cities: above 56% | In Australia: 2 of 5 |
| Drought risk | Low-Medium | Among large cities: above 1% | In Australia: 1 of 5 |
| Earthquake shaking, once in 475 years | 0.86 m/s² | Among large cities: above 59% | In Australia: 4 of 5 |
| Land burned in an average year | 0% | ||
| Cyclone wind, once in 100 years | 0 m/s |
Flood depth is read in a single 1 km cell at the city's centre, in today's climate. Other parts of the city can still flood. The country page names the deepest point near a coastal city in 2080, so its figure can be higher. See how deep a river flood reaches around Sydney on the live map
See the tropical nights around Sydney on the live map
86 days © OpenStreetMap Large cities in Australia
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Source: Criora (criora.com), based on ECMWF, NEX-GDDP-CMIP6, WRI, IPCC, GSHAP, GFED500
APA
Criora. (2026). Sydney, Australia: climate risk profile [Data set]. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://criora.com/atlas/AUS/sydney BibTeX
@misc{criora_atlas_AUS_sydney_2026,
author = {{Criora}},
title = {Sydney, Australia: climate risk profile},
year = {2026},
url = {https://criora.com/atlas/AUS/sydney},
urldate = {2026-11-02}
} Each reading stays under its source's terms; the sources are named on this page.
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