Extreme rain in Australia, 21 October to 2 November 2020

Name: Extreme rain in Australia, 21 October to 2 November 2020
Start: 2020-10-21
End: 2020-11-02
Location: Australia

Extreme rain in Australia, 21 October to 2 November 2020: 757 records at 602 stations, peak on 26 October 2020. Closed.

Data as of 2026-10-12. Last revised 12 October 2026 (2026-10-12).

Key Facts

Extreme rain in Australia, 21 October to 2 November 2020 set or tied 757 station records at 602 stations.
It ran from 21 October 2020 to 2 November 2020 (13 days) and its peak day was 26 October 2020.
Status: closed.
Waverley Downs set a monthly record daily precipitation of 102.0 mm (4.0 in) on 24 October 2020.
The busiest day was 26 October 2020 with 159 records.
The oldest broken record in the ranked list had stood for 148 years.

Footprint

21 October to 2 November 2020

The area covered by Extreme rain in Australia, 21 October to 2 November 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, 21 October to 2 November 2020: stations that set records in the event
Station	Type	Value	Date
Waverley Downs	Record daily precipitation	102.0 mm (4.0 in)	2020-10-24
Gum Lake (Albemarle)	Record daily precipitation	72.0 mm (2.8 in)	2020-10-30
Barraba (Mount Lindsay)	Record daily precipitation	97.2 mm (3.8 in)	2020-10-25
Ceduna Post Office	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	2020-10-22
Ourimbah (Dog Trap Road)	Record daily precipitation	127.0 mm (5.0 in)	2020-10-26
Smiths Lake (Patsys Flat Road)	Record daily precipitation	209.8 mm (8.3 in)	2020-10-27
Newcastle Nobbys Signal Statio	Record daily precipitation	51.2 mm (2.0 in)	2020-10-27
Bettowynd (Condry)	Record daily precipitation	104.0 mm (4.1 in)	2020-11-01
Quorn	Record daily precipitation	77.0 mm (3.0 in)	2020-10-24
Snowball	Record daily precipitation	81.0 mm (3.2 in)	2020-11-01
Tarcutta (Wollumbi)	Record daily precipitation	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	2020-10-25
Mount Kroombit	Record daily precipitation	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	2020-10-22
Mount Joseph	Record daily precipitation	66.8 mm (2.6 in)	2020-10-29
Tallangatta (Bullioh)	Record daily precipitation	43.6 mm (1.7 in)	2020-10-31
Ceduna AMO	Record daily precipitation	32.8 mm (1.3 in)	2020-10-23
Cassilis (Dalkeith)	Record daily precipitation	46.4 mm (1.8 in)	2020-10-26
Carrieton (Eurelia)	Record daily precipitation	51.8 mm (2.0 in)	2020-10-24
Warmun	Record daily precipitation	43.0 mm (1.7 in)	2020-10-28
Yaamba	Record daily precipitation	61.0 mm (2.4 in)	2020-10-22
Brinkworth	Record daily precipitation	24.0 mm (0.9 in)	2020-10-30

Records per Day

Peak day 159

Records set or tied each day from 21 October 2020 to 2 November 2020. The most in one day was 159 on 26 October 2020.

Records per day during Extreme rain in Australia, 21 October to 2 November 2020
Date	Records
2020-10-21	3
2020-10-22	64
2020-10-23	37
2020-10-24	121
2020-10-25	104
2020-10-26	159
2020-10-27	50
2020-10-28	51
2020-10-29	57
2020-10-30	51
2020-10-31	21
2020-11-01	35
2020-11-02	4

Top Records by Margin

Margin over the record replaced

Top records of Extreme rain in Australia, 21 October to 2 November 2020 ranked by margin
Smiths Lake (Patsys Flat Road), 10-27	111.8 mm (4.4 in)
Bettowynd (Condry), 11-01	66.2 mm (2.6 in)
Gum Lake (Albemarle), 10-30	57.5 mm (2.3 in)
Snowball, 11-01	54.6 mm (2.1 in)
Mount Kroombit, 10-22	49.0 mm (1.9 in)
Barraba (Mount Lindsay), 10-25	47.7 mm (1.9 in)
Ourimbah (Dog Trap Road), 10-26	47.2 mm (1.9 in)
Mount Joseph, 10-29	42.4 mm (1.7 in)
Waverley Downs, 10-24	41.0 mm (1.6 in)
Tarcutta (Wollumbi), 10-25	28.5 mm (1.1 in)
Yaamba, 10-22	26.2 mm (1.0 in)
Ceduna AMO, 10-23	25.4 mm (1.0 in)
Newcastle Nobbys Signal Statio, 10-27	22.8 mm (0.9 in)
Warmun, 10-28	22.7 mm (0.9 in)
Ceduna Post Office, 10-22	22.1 mm (0.9 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, 21 October to 2 November 2020
Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
41	68
58	78
48	132
22	104
47	55
112	30
23	120
66	42
15	71
55	37
29	70
49	45
42	66
18	125
25	35
12	113
16	145
23	90
5	106
26	100
23	81
16	75
10	90
22	124
17	103
16	91
15	120
13	138
69	19
23	45
20	45
13	103
23	44
27	82
26	82
23	82
46	26
22	97
18	85
12	84
25	71
9	127
29	83
15	85
16	87
32	51
8	121
18	67
25	82
10	82
19	46
20	54
7	100
7	107
8	104
70	11
9	110
26	9
5	108
7	90
9	104
20	68
8	128
42	21
35	35
12	82
9	100
7	117
16	85
42	45
24	20
31	31
28	44
6	104
18	81
4	100
6	90
4	128
44	22
14	83
13	81
11	87
37	3
14	82
7	111
34	5
3	113
24	10
4	117
15	90
25	52
8	91
42	5
6	148
5	95
4	108
14	45
18	51
16	50
35	20
4	132
3	110
14	70
9	86
27	42
17	31
2	129
2	113
2	128
15	67
8	85
14	60
2	115
11	81
37	35
1	127
3	90
4	90
3	97
2	120
11	82
57	10
26	48
2	112
12	70
17	58
31	35
20	45
10	81
55	15
11	78
11	70
1	115
3	94
37	46
14	45
1	115
2	90
0	128
26	35
10	58
25	53
18	63
0	117
3	91
29	11
5	86
5	86
4	75
23	40
20	53
18	41
35	26
1	98
31	15
4	84
9	67
4	82
18	45
5	82
29	36
34	5
24	25
8	65
0	90
2	86
17	48
3	86
53	15
34	37
4	82
4	74
0	90
6	69
33	25
15	53
1	86
1	87
16	40
1	62
1	87
20	35
2	86
3	81
1	87
19	45
18	32
2	82
11	28
6	71
29	15
2	82
28	50
19	45
23	31
26	33
34	11
13	45
18	13
37	17

Compared With Other Events

Station records per event

Station records in Extreme rain in Australia, 21 October to 2 November 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, 21 October to 2 November 2020 (this event)	757 records

Every Record Set

20 of 757

Every record set or tied during Extreme rain in Australia, 21 October to 2 November 2020, in date order
Date	Station	Record	Value	Margin	Years stood	Significance
2020-10-22	Ceduna Post Office	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	22.1 mm (0.9 in)	104	70 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-22	Mount Kroombit	Record daily precipitation	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	45	59 of 100 (Notable)
2020-10-22	Yaamba	Record daily precipitation	61.0 mm (2.4 in)	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	100	56 of 100 (Notable)
2020-10-23	Ceduna AMO	Record daily precipitation	32.8 mm (1.3 in)	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	35	58 of 100 (Notable)
2020-10-24	Waverley Downs	Record daily precipitation	102.0 mm (4.0 in)	41.0 mm (1.6 in)	68	77 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-24	Quorn	Record daily precipitation	77.0 mm (3.0 in)	14.8 mm (0.6 in)	71	61 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-24	Carrieton (Eurelia)	Record daily precipitation	51.8 mm (2.0 in)	5.3 mm (0.21 in)	106	57 of 100 (Notable)
2020-10-25	Barraba (Mount Lindsay)	Record daily precipitation	97.2 mm (3.8 in)	47.7 mm (1.9 in)	132	71 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-25	Tarcutta (Wollumbi)	Record daily precipitation	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	28.5 mm (1.1 in)	70	60 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-26	Ourimbah (Dog Trap Road)	Record daily precipitation	127.0 mm (5.0 in)	47.2 mm (1.9 in)	55	69 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-26	Cassilis (Dalkeith)	Record daily precipitation	46.4 mm (1.8 in)	16.2 mm (0.6 in)	145	58 of 100 (Notable)
2020-10-27	Smiths Lake (Patsys Flat Road)	Record daily precipitation	209.8 mm (8.3 in)	111.8 mm (4.4 in)	30	63 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-27	Newcastle Nobbys Signal Statio	Record daily precipitation	51.2 mm (2.0 in)	22.8 mm (0.9 in)	120	62 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-28	Warmun	Record daily precipitation	43.0 mm (1.7 in)	22.7 mm (0.9 in)	90	57 of 100 (Notable)
2020-10-29	Mount Joseph	Record daily precipitation	66.8 mm (2.6 in)	42.4 mm (1.7 in)	66	59 of 100 (Notable)
2020-10-30	Gum Lake (Albemarle)	Record daily precipitation	72.0 mm (2.8 in)	57.5 mm (2.3 in)	78	73 of 100 (Major)
2020-10-30	Brinkworth	Record daily precipitation	24.0 mm (0.9 in)	12.1 mm (0.5 in)	113	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-10-31	Tallangatta (Bullioh)	Record daily precipitation	43.6 mm (1.7 in)	18.2 mm (0.7 in)	125	59 of 100 (Notable)
2020-11-01	Bettowynd (Condry)	Record daily precipitation	104.0 mm (4.1 in)	66.2 mm (2.6 in)	42	62 of 100 (Major)
2020-11-01	Snowball	Record daily precipitation	81.0 mm (3.2 in)	54.6 mm (2.1 in)	37	61 of 100 (Major)

The daily ledgers keep a limited number of records per day, so this list has 20 of the 757 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 2026-10-12. 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
41	68
58	78
48	132
22	104
47	55
112	30
23	120
66	42
15	71
55	37
29	70
49	45
42	66
18	125
25	35
12	113
16	145
23	90
5	106
26	100
23	81
16	75
10	90
22	124
17	103
16	91
15	120
13	138
69	19
23	45
20	45
13	103
23	44
27	82
26	82
23	82
46	26
22	97
18	85
12	84
25	71
9	127
29	83
15	85
16	87
32	51
8	121
18	67
25	82
10	82
19	46
20	54
7	100
7	107
8	104
70	11
9	110
26	9
5	108
7	90
9	104
20	68
8	128
42	21
35	35
12	82
9	100
7	117
16	85
42	45
24	20
31	31
28	44
6	104
18	81
4	100
6	90
4	128
44	22
14	83
13	81
11	87
37	3
14	82
7	111
34	5
3	113
24	10
4	117
15	90
25	52
8	91
42	5
6	148
5	95
4	108
14	45
18	51
16	50
35	20
4	132
3	110
14	70
9	86
27	42
17	31
2	129
2	113
2	128
15	67
8	85
14	60
2	115
11	81
37	35
1	127
3	90
4	90
3	97
2	120
11	82
57	10
26	48
2	112
12	70
17	58
31	35
20	45
10	81
55	15
11	78
11	70
1	115
3	94
37	46
14	45
1	115
2	90
0	128
26	35
10	58
25	53
18	63
0	117
3	91
29	11
5	86
5	86
4	75
23	40
20	53
18	41
35	26
1	98
31	15
4	84
9	67
4	82
18	45
5	82
29	36
34	5
24	25
8	65
0	90
2	86
17	48
3	86
53	15
34	37
4	82
4	74
0	90
6	69
33	25
15	53
1	86
1	87
16	40
1	62
1	87
20	35
2	86
3	81
1	87
19	45
18	32
2	82
11	28
6	71
29	15
2	82
28	50
19	45
23	31
26	33
34	11
13	45
18	13
37	17

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
41	68
58	78
48	132
22	104
47	55
112	30
23	120
66	42
15	71
55	37
29	70
49	45
42	66
18	125
25	35
12	113
16	145
23	90
5	106
26	100
23	81
16	75
10	90
22	124
17	103
16	91
15	120
13	138
69	19
23	45
20	45
13	103
23	44
27	82
26	82
23	82
46	26
22	97
18	85
12	84
25	71
9	127
29	83
15	85
16	87
32	51
8	121
18	67
25	82
10	82
19	46
20	54
7	100
7	107
8	104
70	11
9	110
26	9
5	108
7	90
9	104
20	68
8	128
42	21
35	35
12	82
9	100
7	117
16	85
42	45
24	20
31	31
28	44
6	104
18	81
4	100
6	90
4	128
44	22
14	83
13	81
11	87
37	3
14	82
7	111
34	5
3	113
24	10
4	117
15	90
25	52
8	91
42	5
6	148
5	95
4	108
14	45
18	51
16	50
35	20
4	132
3	110
14	70
9	86
27	42
17	31
2	129
2	113
2	128
15	67
8	85
14	60
2	115
11	81
37	35
1	127
3	90
4	90
3	97
2	120
11	82
57	10
26	48
2	112
12	70
17	58
31	35
20	45
10	81
55	15
11	78
11	70
1	115
3	94
37	46
14	45
1	115
2	90
0	128
26	35
10	58
25	53
18	63
0	117
3	91
29	11
5	86
5	86
4	75
23	40
20	53
18	41
35	26
1	98
31	15
4	84
9	67
4	82
18	45
5	82
29	36
34	5
24	25
8	65
0	90
2	86
17	48
3	86
53	15
34	37
4	82
4	74
0	90
6	69
33	25
15	53
1	86
1	87
16	40
1	62
1	87
20	35
2	86
3	81
1	87
19	45
18	32
2	82
11	28
6	71
29	15
2	82
28	50
19	45
23	31
26	33
34	11
13	45
18	13
37	17

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
41	68
58	78
48	132
22	104
47	55
112	30
23	120
66	42
15	71
55	37
29	70
49	45
42	66
18	125
25	35
12	113
16	145
23	90
5	106
26	100
23	81
16	75
10	90
22	124
17	103
16	91
15	120
13	138
69	19
23	45
20	45
13	103
23	44
27	82
26	82
23	82
46	26
22	97
18	85
12	84
25	71
9	127
29	83
15	85
16	87
32	51
8	121
18	67
25	82
10	82
19	46
20	54
7	100
7	107
8	104
70	11
9	110
26	9
5	108
7	90
9	104
20	68
8	128
42	21
35	35
12	82
9	100
7	117
16	85
42	45
24	20
31	31
28	44
6	104
18	81
4	100
6	90
4	128
44	22
14	83
13	81
11	87
37	3
14	82
7	111
34	5
3	113
24	10
4	117
15	90
25	52
8	91
42	5
6	148
5	95
4	108
14	45
18	51
16	50
35	20
4	132
3	110
14	70
9	86
27	42
17	31
2	129
2	113
2	128
15	67
8	85
14	60
2	115
11	81
37	35
1	127
3	90
4	90
3	97
2	120
11	82
57	10
26	48
2	112
12	70
17	58
31	35
20	45
10	81
55	15
11	78
11	70
1	115
3	94
37	46
14	45
1	115
2	90
0	128
26	35
10	58
25	53
18	63
0	117
3	91
29	11
5	86
5	86
4	75
23	40
20	53
18	41
35	26
1	98
31	15
4	84
9	67
4	82
18	45
5	82
29	36
34	5
24	25
8	65
0	90
2	86
17	48
3	86
53	15
34	37
4	82
4	74
0	90
6	69
33	25
15	53
1	86
1	87
16	40
1	62
1	87
20	35
2	86
3	81
1	87
19	45
18	32
2	82
11	28
6	71
29	15
2	82
28	50
19	45
23	31
26	33
34	11
13	45
18	13
37	17