Weather in Mackay in November

Prime time. If you get to pick your dates, November is the one. Highs average 26.7 °C, lows 24.2 °C, and rain falls on 9 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

November ranks 6 of 12 in Mackay: past the worst of the year but short of August, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 9 days, 2 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Nothing specialised needed — this is the month you pack for the trip rather than for the weather.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: the day barely swings — 2.5 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest November day reached 33.4 °C and the coldest night fell to 21.3 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 51 mm — roughly 80% of the month's rain in one day.

This is the volatile part. November rainfall has ranged from 3 mm to 429 mm across the twenty years measured — a 426 mm spread around an average of 64 mm. The average is real but almost no individual November looks like it, so treat the figure as the middle of a wide range rather than a forecast.

Wind is light at 15 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 74%.

How November sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 25.4 °C in October, 26.7 here, 28 in December. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in November

November is at or near the longest days of Mackay's year: 13.1 hours of daylight, gaining 0.4 hours across the month. Evenings are the real gain — dinner outdoors still happens in full light.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 26.2 °C in November — warm enough to stay in as long as you like. The sea peaks at 28.5 °C in February and bottoms out at 23 °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

Shoulder. The value months — prices ease off and you get the place closer to itself. November is the value pick for Mackay: it scores within 12 points of August without carrying August's prices.

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

November in Mackay versus nearby

If Mackay is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Airlie Beach is close enough to be a coin toss — 2.6 °C warmer, 1 day less rain. Rockhampton is the weaker option in November — 5.2 °C warmer, 2 days less rain.

So: November works, with August the better month by 12 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Mackay

See all twelve months in Mackay, or where else to go in November.