Early settlers on the Northern Tablelands in the early 1800s immediately noticed the similarity between the climate here and in some parts of England, warm summers and cold winters with severe frosts and occasional snowfalls, hence the region gaining the name "New England." Some of these pioneers made their own temperature and rainfall measurements with claims of temperatures as high as 39 degrees celsius and as low as -12 degrees celsius recorded.

POST OFFICE - 1857 TO 1965
In the second half of the 19th century the government started setting up a network of weather stations in the main cities and towns across the country. Post offices were mostly chosen as the sites for these weather stations with the postmaster being in charge of recordings. In Armidale the post office, which was located a short distance to the west of the present building, became the official weather station from December 1857. Daily readings taken included rainfall, temperatures, wind, pressure and cloud cover. In 1880 a new post office building was built at the corner of Beardy and Faulkner Streets where weather recordings continued until 1965.

RADIO STATION 2AD - 1965 TO 1997
Because the area at the back of the post office was gradually being "built out" the Bureau of Meteorology moved the weather station a distance of about 100 metres to the back yard of Radio Station 2AD in Rusden Street between Marsh and Faulkner Streets in July 1965. This was a more open area, and because the radio station was staffed almost around the clock seven days a week, it was convenient for staff to keep up the seven observations per day which the Bureau required.
Recordings continued there until June 1997 when a further move was necessary.

UNE EAST ARMIDALE SITE - FROM 1997
Over the years from 1965 the area around the back yard of the radio station slowly suffered the same problem as the rear of the post office. New buildings were built and bitumen car parks installed. In June 1997 when the 2AD backyard was about to be replaced by a carport and cement carpark, the weather station was relocated to the site of the University of New England (UNE) weather station in East Armidale which had been in operation at this location since October 1980. This was a move of about one kilometre to an area of slightly lower temperatures and greater incidence of frost, so the Bureau of Meteorology decided not to amalgamate records from the former and new sites, but to commence a new set of records at the UNE location. During the 16 years that both stations were operating in parallel maximum temperatures averaged 1.1 degrees lower and minimums 1.7 degrees lower at the UNE site.

AIRPORT WEATHER STATION - FROM 2001
In 2001 an automatic weather station (AWS) was set up at Armidale Airport by the Bureau of Meteorology to replace a similar AWS which had been operated in the same location by the Dumaresq Council since 1993. This new weather station is completely automatic providing the Bureau with continuous readouts of temperatures, humidity, rainfall, pressure, wind, visibility and cloud height.
The airport station is 93 metres higher and five kilometres from the East Armidale station often resulting in moderate differences in temperatures and rainfall. Because the airport is on a plateau and the East Armidale station is in the Armidale valley, the airport overnight temperatures are often around two to five degrees higher than the city. During the day the airport is windier than the more sheltered valley causing day temperatures to frequently be about one degree lower than the city.

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