Touring Australia - Is February/March weather good?
 

I live in Maryland, and according to weather.com the hottest months in Sydney are cooler than the hottest months in Maryland. But I've heard Australia can be very hot. Ideally, I'm looking for a time when Melbourne and Sydney are in the 80s. Warm enough to enjoy the water, but not too hot to walk around and explore.

I'm thinking end of February or the beginning of March. Does that make sense?

Ed

Typically, February is Sydney's most humid month.
Melbourne may be just as hot, or hotter, but it tends to be a dryer heat.

This link may be of use http://www.bom.gov.au/index.shtml?ref=hdr

February is often our hottest month and can see the temperature reaching the high 30s or early 40s. You can also have very cold days in Melbourne and sometimes it can be hot & cold in the same day!
Having said that, March is my favorite month because the weather is usually warm but not too intense.

Gatorman82 - I've been to Australia twice. Both trips were for 3-weeks and on both trips I left home in mid- to late March and the weather was great. Of course, the further north you go the warmer it will be but the weather was great; warm without being to hot. FYI - I live in Virginia so our local weather is very similar.

I'd recommend late Oct/November or late March/April. Likely you would get the sort of weather you're looking for in Sydney and Melbourne. These are also good times for Australia in general.

I personally wouldn't go anywhere in Australia in February, because I hate the heat and it gets bloody hot here, especially in WA. In fact, this year we'd planned to spend all of February in NZ, to avoid the heat of WA, but we had to change our plans. Australia is a big place, so the weather varies, but my favorite months to travel within Australia are similar to Ralph's - Sept/Oct/Nov and April/May.

During the spring months is probably the best time (Sept, Oct) and April too.. Some people prefer Autumn over here because the temperatures are very pleasant

Definitely avoid February. March and April are lovely in Sydney. Melbourne is impossible to predict.