Brisbane pest control: summer rain, a dry July

Brisbane pest control

At the Brisbane Airport station the wet season builds through spring and summer and leaves in stages: rain climbs from September to a February peak of 146 mm, then takes until July to fall away.

Average daily low to high, °C
Average rainfall, mm
Autumn and spring, when termites usually fly
Usual tick season, varies by place

The average year, 1991 to 2020, at the Bureau of Meteorology's Brisbane Airport weather station, which stands for Brisbane on this page, from SILO's records, which SILO completes with its own estimates for any day the station did not record. The station's own records cover 1994 to 2020; the years before 1994 are SILO's estimates. The termite seasons are the ones the Australian Museum names and the tick months are the ones the Australian Government’s health advice gives (both below); neither is read from the weather.

The figures as a table

Month	Average daily maximum	Average daily minimum	Average rainfall
January	29.2°C	21.5°C	125 mm
February	28.9°C	21.2°C	146 mm
March	28.0°C	19.6°C	118 mm
April	26.0°C	16.5°C	68 mm
May	23.6°C	13.2°C	90 mm
June	21.4°C	10.8°C	63 mm
July	21.0°C	9.4°C	31 mm
August	22.1°C	9.8°C	34 mm
September	24.2°C	12.8°C	32 mm
October	25.5°C	15.8°C	72 mm
November	27.0°C	18.3°C	89 mm
December	28.2°C	20.1°C	120 mm

An unbroken climb and an untidy retreat

September, at 32 mm, is among the year's driest months, and each month after it brings more rain than the one before, right through to February. The retreat is less tidy. April drops sharply after a wet March, May picks up again, and only by July, the driest month at 31 mm, has the wet season fully let go.

July has the station's coolest nights, with an average minimum of 9.4°C, yet its average daily maximum is still 21.0°C. Summer nights stay warm, January's average minimum sitting at 21.5°C. From August the days warm every month to December. An average year brings 989 mm, and the wettest months, December to March, all have days of 28.0°C or more.

May's second burst of rain

Autumn is the wetter season at the station, 276 mm against spring's 193 mm. March is still one of the wettest months of the year, April dips to 68 mm, and then May brings a second burst, wetter than any month from June to October. Spring starts from a dry September and picks up through October and November, the first steps of the long climb toward February.

Pests and weather, from public sources

Termites

New colonies begin when winged termites leave the nest in a colonising flight. The Australian Museum says these flights happen in warm, humid weather, mostly in spring and autumn.

Australian Museum

Cockroaches

The Better Health Channel says cockroaches do best where conditions are warm, humid and unhygienic.

Better Health Channel (Victorian Government)

Mosquitoes

“Mosquitoes need water to breed, and some mosquitoes can breed in very small amounts of water.”

NSW Health

Ticks

Ticks can be found in any month. The Australian Government’s health advice puts the usual tick season at July to December, and says it differs from place to place.

Australian Centre for Disease Control

Who licenses pest work in Queensland

Queensland Health requires a licence of anyone who does pest control work for payment. Queensland Health

Applying a chemical termite management system needs a Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) licence as well as the government-issued pest control licence. QBCC

Where the work involves termites, Queensland Health says to ask to see the technician’s QBCC licence. Queensland Health

Seeking pest management services, Queensland Health