Weather in Hobart in October

A good month. October works. It is not the peak, but nothing about it fights you. Highs average 15.8 °C, lows 8.1 °C, and rain falls on 13 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

October ranks 7 of 12 in Hobart: past the worst of the year but short of January, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 13 days, 1 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 15.8 °C days and 8.1 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

The averages here are honest — no hidden extremes worth planning around. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest October day reached 27.8 °C and the coldest night fell to 3.4 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 33 mm — roughly 52% of the month's rain in one day.

October is moderately variable: 17 mm in the driest year against 143 mm in the wettest, around an average of 63 mm. Roughly two Octobers in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 15 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 76%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How October sits in the year

The month is on the way up: 1.8 °C warmer than September, and November adds another 2.1 °C. Late in the month feels noticeably different from the start of it, which is worth knowing if the trip is short.

Daylight in October

13.2 hours of daylight, gaining 1.4 hours across the month. That is between Hobart's extremes of 15.3 and 9 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 12.5 °C in October — too cold to swim without a wetsuit. The sea peaks at 16.6 °C in February and bottoms out at 12.4 °C — water lags the air by a month or two, which is why the best swimming often comes after the best weather.

How busy it gets

Quiet. Few other visitors, cheaper rooms, and a real chance some seasonal operators are shut.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

October in Hobart versus nearby

If Hobart is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Launceston is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 2 days less rain. Devonport is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 3 days less rain.

So: October is a compromise. January is 22 points better and is what Hobart is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Hobart

See all twelve months in Hobart, or where else to go in October.