Extreme rain in Australia, 19 to 24 May 2020

Name: Extreme rain in Australia, 19 to 24 May 2020
Start: 2020-05-19
End: 2020-05-24
Location: Australia

Extreme rain in Australia, 19 to 24 May 2020: 123 records at 107 stations, peak on 21 May 2020. Closed.

Data as of 2026-10-17. Last revised 17 October 2026 (2026-10-17).

Key Facts

Extreme rain in Australia, 19 to 24 May 2020 set or tied 123 station records at 107 stations.
It ran from 19 May 2020 to 24 May 2020 (6 days) and its peak day was 21 May 2020.
Status: closed.
Willaura (Main Street) set a daily record precipitation of 27.2 mm (1.1 in) on 20 May 2020.
The busiest day was 21 May 2020 with 62 records.
The oldest broken record in the ranked list had stood for 130 years.

Footprint

19 to 24 May 2020

The area covered by Extreme rain in Australia, 19 to 24 May 2020 is outlined, with 20 of the stations that set records marked, coloured by record type. Made with Natural Earth.

Footprint of Extreme rain in Australia, 19 to 24 May 2020: stations that set records in the event
Station	Type	Value	Date
Willaura (Main Street)	Record daily precipitation	27.2 mm (1.1 in)	2020-05-20
Omeo Shannon Vale	Record daily precipitation	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	2020-05-20
Woods Point	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	2020-05-19
Crooked Rvr (Crooked River (Ha	Record daily precipitation	79.0 mm (3.1 in)	2020-05-22
Maude Post Office	Record daily precipitation	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	2020-05-23
Durham Ox	Record daily precipitation	13.2 mm (0.5 in)	2020-05-20
Molka (Lowana)	Record daily precipitation	11.8 mm (0.5 in)	2020-05-20
Strathbogie	Record daily precipitation	19.0 mm (0.7 in)	2020-05-20
Mansfield (Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	16.6 mm (0.7 in)	2020-05-20
Macedon Forestry	Record daily precipitation	17.0 mm (0.7 in)	2020-05-20
Clunes	Record daily precipitation	13.0 mm (0.5 in)	2020-05-20
Meningie	Record daily precipitation	14.4 mm (0.6 in)	2020-05-21
Meningie (Waltowa)	Record daily precipitation	19.4 mm (0.8 in)	2020-05-21
Millicent	Record daily precipitation	20.6 mm (0.8 in)	2020-05-21
Canary Island	Record daily precipitation	14.2 mm (0.6 in)	2020-05-21
Patho West	Record daily precipitation	16.0 mm (0.6 in)	2020-05-21
Dingee	Record daily precipitation	21.0 mm (0.8 in)	2020-05-21
Longwood	Record daily precipitation	22.0 mm (0.9 in)	2020-05-21
Highlands (Glentannar)	Record daily precipitation	19.2 mm (0.8 in)	2020-05-21
Yea	Record daily precipitation	13.0 mm (0.5 in)	2020-05-21

Records per Day

Peak day 62

Records set or tied each day from 19 May 2020 to 24 May 2020. The most in one day was 62 on 21 May 2020.

Top Records by Margin

Margin over the record replaced

Top records of Extreme rain in Australia, 19 to 24 May 2020 ranked by margin
Crooked Rvr (Crooked River (Ha, 05-22	23.0 mm (0.9 in)
Omeo Shannon Vale, 05-20	21.0 mm (0.8 in)
Dingee, 05-21	18.0 mm (0.7 in)
Longwood, 05-21	15.1 mm (0.6 in)
Meningie (Waltowa), 05-21	10.8 mm (0.4 in)
Patho West, 05-21	7.1 mm (0.28 in)
Willaura (Main Street), 05-20	5.4 mm (0.21 in)
Durham Ox, 05-20	4.8 mm (0.19 in)
Woods Point, 05-19	4.1 mm (0.16 in)
Highlands (Glentannar), 05-21	2.9 mm (0.11 in)
Millicent, 05-21	2.3 mm (0.09 in)
Meningie, 05-21	2.2 mm (0.09 in)
Molka (Lowana), 05-20	1.4 mm (0.06 in)
Mansfield (Post Office), 05-20	1.4 mm (0.06 in)
Canary Island, 05-21	1.2 mm (0.05 in)

Margin is how far the new value is beyond the record it replaced. Ties are not shown.

Margin Against Age of the Broken Record

123 records plotted by how far they beat the old record (across) and how many years the old record had stood (up). Long standing records beaten by a wide margin sit in the top right.

Margin against age of the broken record in Extreme rain in Australia, 19 to 24 May 2020
Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
15	103
5	113
7	94
21	53
2	113
2	130
4	120
18	43
1	109
1	102
1	113
1	102
1	130
3	94
11	43
1	114
23	2
0	130
0	125
5	71
0	88
10	17
13	22
14	5
5	51
16	17
13	22
3	51
3	51
16	17
12	21
2	51
6	40
4	54
4	43
10	12
1	51
15	17
7	43
6	42
7	43
1	51
0	51
5	51
4	43
4	53
2	40
2	40
8	32
8	7
10	22
2	51
1	43
3	43
1	51
9	17
7	32
10	20
4	40
8	22
3	43
4	32
3	40
0	51
5	35
1	43
1	43
6	22
2	27
5	32
10	5
1	40
5	32
2	40
1	40
2	40
5	21
7	18
0	40
6	18
5	18
3	13
0	27
4	32
7	17
0	43
1	34
7	2
3	28
6	3
4	13
5	5
1	27
3	17
5	5
2	32
9	14
3	22
1	27
5	4
1	27
2	13
4	17
1	22
2	13
1	13
2	11
3	19
4	14
4	5
3	5
0	20
2	14
0	18
1	3
2	3
2	5
1	7
0	1
2	3
0	3
0	5
0	5

Compared With Other Events

Station records per event

Station records in Extreme rain in Australia, 19 to 24 May 2020 compared with similar events
Extreme rain in United States and Mexico, 23 February to 15 March 2019	2,223 records
Extreme rain in United States, 3 to 19 January 2024	2,133 records
Extreme rain in Australia, 7 to 26 March 2021	2,099 records
Extreme rain in United States and Mexico, 29 September to 19 October 2018	1,970 records
Extreme rain in United States, 19 December 2022 to 13 January 2023	1,941 records
Extreme rain in Australia, 19 to 24 May 2020 (this event)	123 records

Every Record Set

20 of 123

Every record set or tied during Extreme rain in Australia, 19 to 24 May 2020, in date order
Date	Station	Record	Value	Margin	Years stood	Significance
2020-05-19	Woods Point	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	4.1 mm (0.16 in)	120	43 of 100 (Notable)
2020-05-20	Willaura (Main Street)	Record daily precipitation	27.2 mm (1.1 in)	5.4 mm (0.21 in)	113	50 of 100 (Notable)
2020-05-20	Omeo Shannon Vale	Record daily precipitation	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	21.0 mm (0.8 in)	53	45 of 100 (Notable)
2020-05-20	Durham Ox	Record daily precipitation	13.2 mm (0.5 in)	4.8 mm (0.19 in)	71	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-05-20	Molka (Lowana)	Record daily precipitation	11.8 mm (0.5 in)	1.4 mm (0.06 in)	109	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-05-20	Strathbogie	Record daily precipitation	19.0 mm (0.7 in)	1.2 mm (0.05 in)	102	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-05-20	Mansfield (Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	16.6 mm (0.7 in)	1.4 mm (0.06 in)	102	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-05-20	Macedon Forestry	Record daily precipitation	17.0 mm (0.7 in)	1.0 mm (0.04 in)	130	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-05-20	Clunes	Record daily precipitation	13.0 mm (0.5 in)	0.3 mm (0.01 in)	130	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-05-21	Meningie	Record daily precipitation	14.4 mm (0.6 in)	2.2 mm (0.09 in)	113	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-05-21	Meningie (Waltowa)	Record daily precipitation	19.4 mm (0.8 in)	10.8 mm (0.4 in)	43	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-05-21	Millicent	Record daily precipitation	20.6 mm (0.8 in)	2.3 mm (0.09 in)	130	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-05-21	Canary Island	Record daily precipitation	14.2 mm (0.6 in)	1.2 mm (0.05 in)	113	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-05-21	Patho West	Record daily precipitation	16.0 mm (0.6 in)	7.1 mm (0.28 in)	94	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-05-21	Dingee	Record daily precipitation	21.0 mm (0.8 in)	18.0 mm (0.7 in)	43	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-05-21	Longwood	Record daily precipitation	22.0 mm (0.9 in)	15.1 mm (0.6 in)	103	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-05-21	Highlands (Glentannar)	Record daily precipitation	19.2 mm (0.8 in)	2.9 mm (0.11 in)	94	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-05-21	Yea	Record daily precipitation	13.0 mm (0.5 in)	0.3 mm (0.01 in)	125	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-05-22	Crooked Rvr (Crooked River (Ha	Record daily precipitation	79.0 mm (3.1 in)	23.0 mm (0.9 in)	2	40 of 100 (Notable)
2020-05-23	Maude Post Office	Record daily precipitation	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	0.7 mm (0.03 in)	114	40 of 100 (Notable)

The daily ledgers keep a limited number of records per day, so this list has 20 of the 123 records the event counts. The counts above use the full total.

Related Headlines

Third party news, headline and link only

Download the Data

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Climatology Network Daily (GHCN-Daily). Records are computed by World Extreme Weather Monitor and are not official NOAA products. (US Government open data (NOAA NCEI)) Data as of 2026-10-17. Events are found by this site from station records and are not official designations. Records are provisional until reprocessed.

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
15	103
5	113
7	94
21	53
2	113
2	130
4	120
18	43
1	109
1	102
1	113
1	102
1	130
3	94
11	43
1	114
23	2
0	130
0	125
5	71
0	88
10	17
13	22
14	5
5	51
16	17
13	22
3	51
3	51
16	17
12	21
2	51
6	40
4	54
4	43
10	12
1	51
15	17
7	43
6	42
7	43
1	51
0	51
5	51
4	43
4	53
2	40
2	40
8	32
8	7
10	22
2	51
1	43
3	43
1	51
9	17
7	32
10	20
4	40
8	22
3	43
4	32
3	40
0	51
5	35
1	43
1	43
6	22
2	27
5	32
10	5
1	40
5	32
2	40
1	40
2	40
5	21
7	18
0	40
6	18
5	18
3	13
0	27
4	32
7	17
0	43
1	34
7	2
3	28
6	3
4	13
5	5
1	27
3	17
5	5
2	32
9	14
3	22
1	27
5	4
1	27
2	13
4	17
1	22
2	13
1	13
2	11
3	19
4	14
4	5
3	5
0	20
2	14
0	18
1	3
2	3
2	5
1	7
0	1
2	3
0	3
0	5
0	5

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
15	103
5	113
7	94
21	53
2	113
2	130
4	120
18	43
1	109
1	102
1	113
1	102
1	130
3	94
11	43
1	114
23	2
0	130
0	125
5	71
0	88
10	17
13	22
14	5
5	51
16	17
13	22
3	51
3	51
16	17
12	21
2	51
6	40
4	54
4	43
10	12
1	51
15	17
7	43
6	42
7	43
1	51
0	51
5	51
4	43
4	53
2	40
2	40
8	32
8	7
10	22
2	51
1	43
3	43
1	51
9	17
7	32
10	20
4	40
8	22
3	43
4	32
3	40
0	51
5	35
1	43
1	43
6	22
2	27
5	32
10	5
1	40
5	32
2	40
1	40
2	40
5	21
7	18
0	40
6	18
5	18
3	13
0	27
4	32
7	17
0	43
1	34
7	2
3	28
6	3
4	13
5	5
1	27
3	17
5	5
2	32
9	14
3	22
1	27
5	4
1	27
2	13
4	17
1	22
2	13
1	13
2	11
3	19
4	14
4	5
3	5
0	20
2	14
0	18
1	3
2	3
2	5
1	7
0	1
2	3
0	3
0	5
0	5

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
15	103
5	113
7	94
21	53
2	113
2	130
4	120
18	43
1	109
1	102
1	113
1	102
1	130
3	94
11	43
1	114
23	2
0	130
0	125
5	71
0	88
10	17
13	22
14	5
5	51
16	17
13	22
3	51
3	51
16	17
12	21
2	51
6	40
4	54
4	43
10	12
1	51
15	17
7	43
6	42
7	43
1	51
0	51
5	51
4	43
4	53
2	40
2	40
8	32
8	7
10	22
2	51
1	43
3	43
1	51
9	17
7	32
10	20
4	40
8	22
3	43
4	32
3	40
0	51
5	35
1	43
1	43
6	22
2	27
5	32
10	5
1	40
5	32
2	40
1	40
2	40
5	21
7	18
0	40
6	18
5	18
3	13
0	27
4	32
7	17
0	43
1	34
7	2
3	28
6	3
4	13
5	5
1	27
3	17
5	5
2	32
9	14
3	22
1	27
5	4
1	27
2	13
4	17
1	22
2	13
1	13
2	11
3	19
4	14
4	5
3	5
0	20
2	14
0	18
1	3
2	3
2	5
1	7
0	1
2	3
0	3
0	5
0	5