Distance Table
Distances and times between major towns
Location Statistics
The northern upper reaches of the river system are heavily influenced by the Australian monsoon season. As the river travels south, it passes through the harsh and arid outback regions of Queensland and South Australia that experience extremely hot summers with very sporadic rainfall. Clear winter nights can result in frosts, although the low humidity means that these may not always be noticeable.
For the most accurate weather information that reflects recent weather patterns, I have used a 30-year period between 1991 and 2020 for my statistics whenever possible. In some cases, a smaller subset or even longer-term statistics may also be used. To provide normalized figures that exclude extreme values, I have used deciles ranging from 1 to 9, which excludes the lowest and highest 10% of observations.
Above Coopers Creek
The first couple of comparisons are for Hughenden (85 km west of Torrens Creek) and Longreach. Torrens Creek is close to the source and Longreach is about halfway down the first section between the source and the start of Coppers Creek.
There appears to still be a slight influence of the summer monsoon reaching south with summer rains.
Mean Temps
Annual: 31.5 to 32.4°C
Monthly low: 7.2 to 23.8°C
Monthly high: 23.7 to 37.6°C
Mean Rainfall
Annual: 433 to 450 mm
Monthly min: 0 to 6.2 mm
Monthly max: 53 to 420 mm
Data sourced from Bureau of Meteorology (Hughenden 2001-2023, Longreach 1949-2023)
Data sourced from Bureau of Meteorology (Hughenden 2001-2023, Longreach 1991-2020)
Data sourced from Bureau of Meteorology (Hughenden 2001-2023, Longreach 1991-2020)
Data sourced from Bureau of Meteorology (Hughenden 2001-2023, Longreach 1991-2020)
And a head to head comparison of these two locations:
Hughenden
Longreach
Seasonal Wind Roses for Hughenden (3pm)
Seasonal Wind Roses for Longreach (3pm)
These wind roses are based on limited data from early 2022 onwards.
Coopers Creek
The next two comparisons Windorah and Moomba Gas Fields. Windorah is just downstream of the
start of Coopers Creek and Moomba is one of the last stations with observations in SA about 40 km
south of the river and 250 km from Lake Eyre.
The only significant distinction between the two locations is the slight chance of summer rain in Windorah,
with Moomba recieving almost none being in the Strzelecki Desert and sitting beside Australia's most arid region
around Lake Eyre.
Mean Temps
Annual: 29.5 to 30.5°C
Monthly low: 6.3 to 24.9°C
Monthly high: 19.8 to 38.9°C
Mean Rainfall
Annual: 173 to 290 mm
Monthly min: 0 to 0 mm
Monthly max: 33 to 498 mm
Data sourced from Bureau of Meteorology (Windorah 1887-2023, Moomba 1995-2023)
Data sourced from Bureau of Meteorology (Windorah 1991-2020, Moomba 1995-2023)
Data sourced from Bureau of Meteorology (Windorah 1991-2014, Moomba 1995-2023)
Data sourced from Bureau of Meteorology (Windorah 1991-2014, Moomba 1995-2023)
The next two comparisons Windorah and Moomba Gas Fields. Windorah is just downstream of the start of Coopers Creek and Moomba is one of the last stations with observations in SA about 40 km south of the river and 250 km from Lake Eyre.
The only significant distinction between the two locations is the slight chance of summer rain in Windorah, with Moomba recieving almost none being in the Strzelecki Desert and sitting beside Australia's most arid region around Lake Eyre.
Mean Temps
Annual: 29.5 to 30.5°C
Monthly low: 6.3 to 24.9°C
Monthly high: 19.8 to 38.9°C
Mean Rainfall
Annual: 173 to 290 mm
Monthly min: 0 to 0 mm
Monthly max: 33 to 498 mm
Data sourced from Bureau of Meteorology (Windorah 1887-2023, Moomba 1995-2023)
Data sourced from Bureau of Meteorology (Windorah 1991-2020, Moomba 1995-2023)
Data sourced from Bureau of Meteorology (Windorah 1991-2014, Moomba 1995-2023)
Data sourced from Bureau of Meteorology (Windorah 1991-2014, Moomba 1995-2023)
And a head to head comparison of these two locations:
Windorah
Moomba
Seasonal Wind Roses for Windorah (3pm)
These wind roses are based on limited data from early 2022 onwards.
Seasonal Wind Roses for Moomba (3pm)
These wind roses are based on limited data from early 2022 onwards.
Seasonal Wind Roses for Marree (3pm)
Marree is about 100 km SE of Kati Thanda / Lake Eyre.
