Extreme rain in Australia, 3 to 10 October 2020

Name: Extreme rain in Australia, 3 to 10 October 2020
Start: 2020-10-03
End: 2020-10-10
Location: Australia

Extreme rain in Australia, 3 to 10 October 2020: 682 records at 535 stations, peak on 5 October 2020. Closed.

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

Key Facts

Extreme rain in Australia, 3 to 10 October 2020 set or tied 682 station records at 535 stations.
It ran from 3 October 2020 to 10 October 2020 (8 days) and its peak day was 5 October 2020.
Status: closed.
Port Vincent set a daily record precipitation of 45.0 mm (1.8 in) on 5 October 2020.
The busiest day was 5 October 2020 with 244 records.
The oldest broken record in the ranked list had stood for 159 years.

Footprint

3 to 10 October 2020

The area covered by Extreme rain in Australia, 3 to 10 October 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, 3 to 10 October 2020: stations that set records in the event
Station	Type	Value	Date
Port Vincent	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	2020-10-05
Branxholme (Bassett)	Record daily precipitation	41.0 mm (1.6 in)	2020-10-08
Butler Tanks (North Parnda)	Record daily precipitation	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	2020-10-06
Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates	Record daily precipitation	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	2020-10-05
Yorketown	Record daily precipitation	29.8 mm (1.2 in)	2020-10-06
Cape Otway Lighthouse	Record daily precipitation	41.2 mm (1.6 in)	2020-10-09
Port Elliot Caravan Park	Record daily precipitation	34.2 mm (1.3 in)	2020-10-05
Penshurst (Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	38.0 mm (1.5 in)	2020-10-08
Merino	Record daily precipitation	56.0 mm (2.2 in)	2020-10-08
Port Victoria	Record daily precipitation	38.8 mm (1.5 in)	2020-10-05
Milang	Record daily precipitation	31.4 mm (1.2 in)	2020-10-05
Minlaton	Record daily precipitation	40.2 mm (1.6 in)	2020-10-06
Rainbow (Pella)	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	2020-10-07
Yallunda Flat (Meetigilly)	Record daily precipitation	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	2020-10-05
Yankalilla (Inman Valley)	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	2020-10-05
Parawa (Sharon)	Record daily precipitation	41.4 mm (1.6 in)	2020-10-05
Mount Eba	Record daily precipitation	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	2020-10-07
Kimba (Curtinye)	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	2020-10-05
Ouse (Millbrook)	Record daily precipitation	37.0 mm (1.5 in)	2020-10-05
Penshurst (the Gums)	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	2020-10-08

Records per Day

Peak day 244

Records set or tied each day from 3 October 2020 to 10 October 2020. The most in one day was 244 on 5 October 2020.

Top Records by Margin

Margin over the record replaced

Top records of Extreme rain in Australia, 3 to 10 October 2020 ranked by margin
Port Vincent, 10-05	34.6 mm (1.4 in)
Parawa (Sharon), 10-05	31.7 mm (1.2 in)
Port Victoria, 10-05	28.1 mm (1.1 in)
Yankalilla (Inman Valley), 10-05	24.9 mm (1.0 in)
Branxholme (Bassett), 10-08	24.0 mm (0.9 in)
Minlaton, 10-06	23.2 mm (0.9 in)
Butler Tanks (North Parnda), 10-06	23.1 mm (0.9 in)
Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates, 10-05	22.8 mm (0.9 in)
Penshurst (the Gums), 10-08	22.6 mm (0.9 in)
Milang, 10-05	21.5 mm (0.8 in)
Port Elliot Caravan Park, 10-05	21.2 mm (0.8 in)
Cape Otway Lighthouse, 10-09	19.9 mm (0.8 in)
Yorketown, 10-06	19.4 mm (0.8 in)
Penshurst (Post Office), 10-08	17.7 mm (0.7 in)
Mount Eba, 10-07	16.8 mm (0.7 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

500 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, 3 to 10 October 2020
Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
35	103
24	121
23	94
19	101
23	87
20	123
21	70
18	125
11	111
23	58
28	58
22	58
17	102
13	103
17	104
25	70
32	58
17	79
23	59
15	87
16	115
25	41
15	102
18	88
7	126
19	68
13	96
17	70
22	47
64	45
29	41
19	56
23	54
26	46
16	87
19	70
20	121
27	55
23	54
27	45
12	90
14	100
13	79
24	24
13	88
23	46
22	43
24	40
15	73
38	28
11	87
28	35
17	40
12	79
15	70
46	31
20	46
4	95
9	96
29	15
32	17
30	23
18	71
12	79
11	121
10	102
23	37
8	90
23	35
27	61
10	110
10	106
2	95
25	24
25	9
12	70
18	46
27	30
33	36
15	79
8	125
8	90
10	87
29	9
5	72
9	95
40	21
10	125
11	104
9	90
6	103
12	73
12	70
19	24
12	104
10	94
20	45
13	88
5	66
5	103
6	127
25	32
25	15
21	30
11	62
19	9
18	45
5	100
26	9
20	9
11	58
10	70
5	90
4	121
7	97
7	87
11	71
23	15
15	46
11	73
4	94
16	45
9	89
5	125
6	122
5	104
4	104
5	130
16	44
10	81
19	24
28	9
6	90
29	9
4	110
15	56
19	15
21	15
15	46
7	87
18	41
19	10
14	45
3	104
13	58
33	17
7	73
20	15
5	129
9	61
2	110
15	44
18	45
23	9
8	70
2	104
4	113
12	45
4	87
9	56
6	84
1	70
14	44
8	71
2	112
25	28
2	104
5	87
18	48
2	112
2	92
16	52
15	45
3	88
2	125
3	92
3	90
11	61
19	30
10	78
2	125
16	46
2	102
1	129
1	112
13	52
10	64
0	135
6	79
6	78
11	45
0	108
8	39
17	9
1	159
6	73
9	52
15	15
21	15
4	87

Compared With Other Events

Station records per event

Station records in Extreme rain in Australia, 3 to 10 October 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, 3 to 10 October 2020 (this event)	682 records

Every Record Set

20 of 682

Every record set or tied during Extreme rain in Australia, 3 to 10 October 2020, in date order
Date	Station	Record	Value	Margin	Years stood	Significance
2020-10-05	Port Vincent	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	34.6 mm (1.4 in)	103	80 of 100 (Exceptional)
2020-10-05	Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates	Record daily precipitation	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	22.8 mm (0.9 in)	87	76 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-05	Port Elliot Caravan Park	Record daily precipitation	34.2 mm (1.3 in)	21.2 mm (0.8 in)	70	71 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-05	Port Victoria	Record daily precipitation	38.8 mm (1.5 in)	28.1 mm (1.1 in)	58	67 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-05	Milang	Record daily precipitation	31.4 mm (1.2 in)	21.5 mm (0.8 in)	58	67 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-05	Yallunda Flat (Meetigilly)	Record daily precipitation	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	13.2 mm (0.5 in)	103	65 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-05	Yankalilla (Inman Valley)	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	24.9 mm (1.0 in)	70	64 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-05	Parawa (Sharon)	Record daily precipitation	41.4 mm (1.6 in)	31.7 mm (1.2 in)	58	64 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-05	Kimba (Curtinye)	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	16.8 mm (0.7 in)	79	63 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-05	Ouse (Millbrook)	Record daily precipitation	37.0 mm (1.5 in)	15.2 mm (0.6 in)	87	63 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-06	Butler Tanks (North Parnda)	Record daily precipitation	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	23.1 mm (0.9 in)	94	78 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-06	Yorketown	Record daily precipitation	29.8 mm (1.2 in)	19.4 mm (0.8 in)	101	76 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-06	Minlaton	Record daily precipitation	40.2 mm (1.6 in)	23.2 mm (0.9 in)	58	67 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-07	Rainbow (Pella)	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	16.5 mm (0.6 in)	102	66 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-07	Mount Eba	Record daily precipitation	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	16.8 mm (0.7 in)	104	64 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-08	Branxholme (Bassett)	Record daily precipitation	41.0 mm (1.6 in)	24.0 mm (0.9 in)	121	80 of 100 (Exceptional)
2020-10-08	Penshurst (Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	38.0 mm (1.5 in)	17.7 mm (0.7 in)	125	70 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-08	Merino	Record daily precipitation	56.0 mm (2.2 in)	11.0 mm (0.4 in)	111	68 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-08	Penshurst (the Gums)	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	22.6 mm (0.9 in)	59	63 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-09	Cape Otway Lighthouse	Record daily precipitation	41.2 mm (1.6 in)	19.9 mm (0.8 in)	123	72 of 100 (Major)

The daily ledgers keep a limited number of records per day, so this list has 20 of the 682 records the event counts. The counts above use the full total.

Related Headlines

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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.

Date	Records
2020-10-03	1
2020-10-04	32
2020-10-05	244
2020-10-06	33
2020-10-07	112
2020-10-08	178
2020-10-09	58
2020-10-10	24

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
35	103
24	121
23	94
19	101
23	87
20	123
21	70
18	125
11	111
23	58
28	58
22	58
17	102
13	103
17	104
25	70
32	58
17	79
23	59
15	87
16	115
25	41
15	102
18	88
7	126
19	68
13	96
17	70
22	47
64	45
29	41
19	56
23	54
26	46
16	87
19	70
20	121
27	55
23	54
27	45
12	90
14	100
13	79
24	24
13	88
23	46
22	43
24	40
15	73
38	28
11	87
28	35
17	40
12	79
15	70
46	31
20	46
4	95
9	96
29	15
32	17
30	23
18	71
12	79
11	121
10	102
23	37
8	90
23	35
27	61
10	110
10	106
2	95
25	24
25	9
12	70
18	46
27	30
33	36
15	79
8	125
8	90
10	87
29	9
5	72
9	95
40	21
10	125
11	104
9	90
6	103
12	73
12	70
19	24
12	104
10	94
20	45
13	88
5	66
5	103
6	127
25	32
25	15
21	30
11	62
19	9
18	45
5	100
26	9
20	9
11	58
10	70
5	90
4	121
7	97
7	87
11	71
23	15
15	46
11	73
4	94
16	45
9	89
5	125
6	122
5	104
4	104
5	130
16	44
10	81
19	24
28	9
6	90
29	9
4	110
15	56
19	15
21	15
15	46
7	87
18	41
19	10
14	45
3	104
13	58
33	17
7	73
20	15
5	129
9	61
2	110
15	44
18	45
23	9
8	70
2	104
4	113
12	45
4	87
9	56
6	84
1	70
14	44
8	71
2	112
25	28
2	104
5	87
18	48
2	112
2	92
16	52
15	45
3	88
2	125
3	92
3	90
11	61
19	30
10	78
2	125
16	46
2	102
1	129
1	112
13	52
10	64
0	135
6	79
6	78
11	45
0	108
8	39
17	9
1	159
6	73
9	52
15	15
21	15
4	87

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
35	103
24	121
23	94
19	101
23	87
20	123
21	70
18	125
11	111
23	58
28	58
22	58
17	102
13	103
17	104
25	70
32	58
17	79
23	59
15	87
16	115
25	41
15	102
18	88
7	126
19	68
13	96
17	70
22	47
64	45
29	41
19	56
23	54
26	46
16	87
19	70
20	121
27	55
23	54
27	45
12	90
14	100
13	79
24	24
13	88
23	46
22	43
24	40
15	73
38	28
11	87
28	35
17	40
12	79
15	70
46	31
20	46
4	95
9	96
29	15
32	17
30	23
18	71
12	79
11	121
10	102
23	37
8	90
23	35
27	61
10	110
10	106
2	95
25	24
25	9
12	70
18	46
27	30
33	36
15	79
8	125
8	90
10	87
29	9
5	72
9	95
40	21
10	125
11	104
9	90
6	103
12	73
12	70
19	24
12	104
10	94
20	45
13	88
5	66
5	103
6	127
25	32
25	15
21	30
11	62
19	9
18	45
5	100
26	9
20	9
11	58
10	70
5	90
4	121
7	97
7	87
11	71
23	15
15	46
11	73
4	94
16	45
9	89
5	125
6	122
5	104
4	104
5	130
16	44
10	81
19	24
28	9
6	90
29	9
4	110
15	56
19	15
21	15
15	46
7	87
18	41
19	10
14	45
3	104
13	58
33	17
7	73
20	15
5	129
9	61
2	110
15	44
18	45
23	9
8	70
2	104
4	113
12	45
4	87
9	56
6	84
1	70
14	44
8	71
2	112
25	28
2	104
5	87
18	48
2	112
2	92
16	52
15	45
3	88
2	125
3	92
3	90
11	61
19	30
10	78
2	125
16	46
2	102
1	129
1	112
13	52
10	64
0	135
6	79
6	78
11	45
0	108
8	39
17	9
1	159
6	73
9	52
15	15
21	15
4	87

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
35	103
24	121
23	94
19	101
23	87
20	123
21	70
18	125
11	111
23	58
28	58
22	58
17	102
13	103
17	104
25	70
32	58
17	79
23	59
15	87
16	115
25	41
15	102
18	88
7	126
19	68
13	96
17	70
22	47
64	45
29	41
19	56
23	54
26	46
16	87
19	70
20	121
27	55
23	54
27	45
12	90
14	100
13	79
24	24
13	88
23	46
22	43
24	40
15	73
38	28
11	87
28	35
17	40
12	79
15	70
46	31
20	46
4	95
9	96
29	15
32	17
30	23
18	71
12	79
11	121
10	102
23	37
8	90
23	35
27	61
10	110
10	106
2	95
25	24
25	9
12	70
18	46
27	30
33	36
15	79
8	125
8	90
10	87
29	9
5	72
9	95
40	21
10	125
11	104
9	90
6	103
12	73
12	70
19	24
12	104
10	94
20	45
13	88
5	66
5	103
6	127
25	32
25	15
21	30
11	62
19	9
18	45
5	100
26	9
20	9
11	58
10	70
5	90
4	121
7	97
7	87
11	71
23	15
15	46
11	73
4	94
16	45
9	89
5	125
6	122
5	104
4	104
5	130
16	44
10	81
19	24
28	9
6	90
29	9
4	110
15	56
19	15
21	15
15	46
7	87
18	41
19	10
14	45
3	104
13	58
33	17
7	73
20	15
5	129
9	61
2	110
15	44
18	45
23	9
8	70
2	104
4	113
12	45
4	87
9	56
6	84
1	70
14	44
8	71
2	112
25	28
2	104
5	87
18	48
2	112
2	92
16	52
15	45
3	88
2	125
3	92
3	90
11	61
19	30
10	78
2	125
16	46
2	102
1	129
1	112
13	52
10	64
0	135
6	79
6	78
11	45
0	108
8	39
17	9
1	159
6	73
9	52
15	15
21	15
4	87