Roseworthy | |||||||||||||
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 Silos in Roseworthy | |||||||||||||
  Roseworthy | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates: 34°32′02″S 138°44′53″E / 34.534°S 138.748°E / -34.534; 138.748 | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | South Australia | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
| Location |
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| Established | 1863 | ||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal divisions | |||||||||||||
| Elevation | 65 m (213 ft) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 994 (2016 census)[2] | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 5371 | ||||||||||||
| Mean max temp | 23.7 °C (74.7 °F)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Mean min temp | 9.7 °C (49.5 °F)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Annual rainfall | 381.5 mm (15.02 in)[1] | ||||||||||||
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Roseworthy is a small town in South Australia, about 10 km north of Gawler on the Horrocks Highway.[3] At the 2016 census, Roseworthy had a population of 994.[2]
Roseworthy has a large grain storage facility consisting of both storage silos and bunkers for grain grown in the surrounding areas, and grain is now taken by road transport to Port Adelaide for export where it was once taken by rail.
The Roseworthy campus of the University of Adelaide is the location of Australia's newest Vet School. The School of Animal & Veterinary Sciences provides education and training of animal and veterinary scientists in a research environment. The School offers three academic programs: Animal Science, Veterinary Bioscience and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM).
Roseworthy is a popular stop for many truck drivers with the Roseworthy Roadhouse often bustling with resting travellers and transport drivers as they traverse along the Horrocks Highway.
Roseworthy is in the Light Regional Council, the state electoral district of Schubert and the federal divisions of Barker and Grey.
History
The Surveyor General of South Australia visited the site which would become Roseworthy on 13 December 1837. In 1855, land in the Hundred of Mudla Wirra was purchased by William and Grace Gartrell. 12 years later, the now-widowed Mrs Gartrell subdivided the land for a township, naming it Roseworthy after the hamlet of Roseworthy, Cornwall, England, from whence she had originally come.[4]
Climate
Roseworthy has a semi-arid influenced hot-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa/BSk) with warm to hot, dry summers and mild, slightly wet winters.[5] On average, the town experiences 105.0 clear days and 122.3 cloudy days per annum. The wettest recorded day was 25 January 1941 with 112.5 mm (4.43 in) of rainfall.[6] Extreme temperatures ranged from 48.3 °C (118.9 °F) on 24 January 2019 to −3.6 °C (25.5 °F) on 5 August 2020.[7]
The original weather station recorded temperature, precipitation, solar exposure, 9 am and 3 pm conditions. It was closed in 1997.
| Climate data for Roseworthy Agricultural College (34°32′S 138°41′E / 34.53°S 138.69°E / -34.53; 138.69) (68 m (223 ft) AMSL) (1865-1997) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 46.4 (115.5) |
44.9 (112.8) |
43.2 (109.8) |
37.8 (100.0) |
32.8 (91.0) |
26.4 (79.5) |
27.5 (81.5) |
31.5 (88.7) |
34.7 (94.5) |
41.8 (107.2) |
45.3 (113.5) |
45.4 (113.7) |
46.4 (115.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.8 (85.6) |
29.7 (85.5) |
27.3 (81.1) |
22.9 (73.2) |
18.8 (65.8) |
15.8 (60.4) |
14.9 (58.8) |
16.1 (61.0) |
18.7 (65.7) |
22.0 (71.6) |
25.4 (77.7) |
27.8 (82.0) |
22.4 (72.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 14.9 (58.8) |
15.2 (59.4) |
13.5 (56.3) |
11.1 (52.0) |
8.9 (48.0) |
6.8 (44.2) |
6.0 (42.8) |
6.3 (43.3) |
7.2 (45.0) |
9.1 (48.4) |
11.6 (52.9) |
13.6 (56.5) |
10.4 (50.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 3.6 (38.5) |
5.6 (42.1) |
4.1 (39.4) |
0.6 (33.1) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
−1.9 (28.6) |
−2.2 (28.0) |
−2.0 (28.4) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
−0.9 (30.4) |
0.0 (32.0) |
2.6 (36.7) |
−2.2 (28.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 21.4 (0.84) |
19.3 (0.76) |
20.3 (0.80) |
37.0 (1.46) |
46.8 (1.84) |
52.5 (2.07) |
49.9 (1.96) |
52.8 (2.08) |
46.8 (1.84) |
43.0 (1.69) |
27.7 (1.09) |
22.7 (0.89) |
440.3 (17.33) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 4.0 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 8.5 | 11.5 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 11.9 | 10.0 | 6.5 | 5.2 | 108.8 |
| Average afternoon relative humidity (%) | 35 | 37 | 40 | 48 | 58 | 66 | 66 | 61 | 56 | 48 | 40 | 38 | 49 |
| Average dew point °C (°F) | 9.8 (49.6) |
10.0 (50.0) |
10.0 (50.0) |
8.1 (46.6) |
8.2 (46.8) |
7.2 (45.0) |
6.8 (44.2) |
6.5 (43.7) |
7.2 (45.0) |
7.7 (45.9) |
6.7 (44.1) |
8.4 (47.1) |
8.1 (46.5) |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 331.7 | 285.3 | 263.5 | 204.0 | 167.4 | 159.0 | 167.4 | 189.1 | 192.0 | 242.8 | 282.0 | 310.0 | 2,794.2 |
| Percentage possible sunshine | 76 | 76 | 69 | 61 | 52 | 54 | 54 | 56 | 54 | 60 | 68 | 69 | 62 |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology (1883-1997)[8] | |||||||||||||
A newer weather station was opened in 1997. It records temperature, precipitation and 3 pm conditions.
| Climate data for Roseworthy AWS (34°31′S 138°41′E / 34.51°S 138.68°E / -34.51; 138.68) (65 m (213 ft) AMSL) (1997-2025) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 48.3 (118.9) |
46.6 (115.9) |
43.4 (110.1) |
38.9 (102.0) |
31.9 (89.4) |
27.1 (80.8) |
24.7 (76.5) |
30.2 (86.4) |
34.4 (93.9) |
39.3 (102.7) |
44.9 (112.8) |
47.6 (117.7) |
48.3 (118.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 31.8 (89.2) |
31.1 (88.0) |
28.2 (82.8) |
24.1 (75.4) |
19.8 (67.6) |
16.2 (61.2) |
15.5 (59.9) |
16.6 (61.9) |
20.0 (68.0) |
23.8 (74.8) |
27.3 (81.1) |
29.7 (85.5) |
23.7 (74.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 15.0 (59.0) |
14.7 (58.5) |
12.8 (55.0) |
10.5 (50.9) |
8.4 (47.1) |
6.6 (43.9) |
5.7 (42.3) |
5.4 (41.7) |
6.3 (43.3) |
8.0 (46.4) |
10.7 (51.3) |
12.7 (54.9) |
9.7 (49.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 4.3 (39.7) |
4.0 (39.2) |
3.3 (37.9) |
1.0 (33.8) |
−1.5 (29.3) |
−3.1 (26.4) |
−2.6 (27.3) |
−3.6 (25.5) |
−2.4 (27.7) |
−1.3 (29.7) |
0.3 (32.5) |
3.5 (38.3) |
−3.6 (25.5) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 17.8 (0.70) |
17.2 (0.68) |
15.1 (0.59) |
28.2 (1.11) |
38.4 (1.51) |
46.1 (1.81) |
43.2 (1.70) |
44.7 (1.76) |
42.5 (1.67) |
34.4 (1.35) |
29.7 (1.17) |
23.5 (0.93) |
381.5 (15.02) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 4.1 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 7.5 | 11.3 | 14.1 | 15.9 | 15.8 | 13.1 | 9.6 | 7.9 | 6.3 | 112.9 |
| Average afternoon relative humidity (%) | 28 | 31 | 33 | 38 | 50 | 60 | 62 | 57 | 54 | 42 | 33 | 31 | 43 |
| Average dew point °C (°F) | 6.7 (44.1) |
7.9 (46.2) |
6.7 (44.1) |
5.8 (42.4) |
6.7 (44.1) |
6.8 (44.2) |
6.7 (44.1) |
6.3 (43.3) |
7.4 (45.3) |
5.5 (41.9) |
5.4 (41.7) |
6.0 (42.8) |
6.5 (43.7) |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology (1997-2025)[1] | |||||||||||||
Notes and references
- "Roseworthy AWS Climate Statistics (1997-2025)". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Roseworthy (L) (State Suburbs)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
- "Property Location Browser". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- McDougall & Vines. "Heritage Survey of the Light Regional Council, 2004, Vol. 2, Part C" (PDF). Enviro Data SA. State of South Australia. Retrieved 29 May 2026.
- "Climate classification maps: Köppen - all classes". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
- "Roseworthy Agricultural College Climate (1883-1997)". FarmOnline Weather. Australian Community Media. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
- "Roseworthy AWS Climate (1997-2025)". FarmOnline Weather. Australian Community Media. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- "Roseworthy Agricultural College Climate Statistics (1883-1997)". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 15 January 2026.