It is important to understand the difference between weather, climate, climate variability and climate change.

Weather

Weather is the day-by-day variation in temperature, wind and rainfall. Weather usually changes from hour to hour and from town to town.

Climate

Climate is more stable and refers to the average weather conditions over at least a 30 year period (i.e. long term average).

Climate variability and climate change are different aspects of climate.

Climate variability

Climate variability refers the year-to year variations around the average weather conditions. For example not all consecutive summers will be identical - some summers will be cooler and some will be hotter than the long term average. Seasonal climate variability is a key feature in the West Gippsland region.

Climate change

Climate change refers to any long-term trends or change in average weather conditions over many decades.