Tropical cyclones occur two or three times a year in the seas to the northeast and northwest of Australia. The northern part of the Queensland coast and the coast from Darwin southwards are affected by the torrential rain and sometimes very high winds near the storm centres. On the northwest coast these storms are called Willy Willies. It has a climate that can best be described as warm-temperate with no real cold season, warm to hot summers and a good distribution of rainfall throughout the year. The weather can be changeable throughout the year and the summers are liable to prolonged heat waves and droughts.
Cold spells are brief and never severe on the coast.
The area around Spencer Gulf in South Australia, parts of Western Victoria and the southwestern part of Western Australia are distinctive in having a Mediterranean type of climate. Rainfall is moderate and falls mainly in the winter. Summers are warm to hot with an almost complete drought, whilst the winter gets very changeable weather associated with cyclonic disturbances. Perth and Adelaide represent the wetter parts of the two districts, and the mildness of the winter is mirrored by the fact that an air frost has never been recorded at either location. The Desert and semi-arid region is the most extensive climatic region of Australia, including part of every mainland state except Victoria.