Extreme rain in Australia, 5 to 15 December 2020

Name: Extreme rain in Australia, 5 to 15 December 2020
Start: 2020-12-05
End: 2020-12-15
Location: Australia

Extreme rain in Australia, 5 to 15 December 2020: 145 records at 103 stations, peak on 11 December 2020. Closed.

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

Key Facts

Extreme rain in Australia, 5 to 15 December 2020 set or tied 145 station records at 103 stations.
It ran from 5 December 2020 to 15 December 2020 (11 days) and its peak day was 11 December 2020.
Status: closed.
Midland set a monthly record daily precipitation of 45.0 mm (1.8 in) on 14 December 2020.
The busiest day was 11 December 2020 with 37 records.
The oldest broken record in the ranked list had stood for 119 years.

Footprint

5 to 15 December 2020

The area covered by Extreme rain in Australia, 5 to 15 December 2020 is outlined, with 17 of the stations that set records marked, coloured by record type. Made with Natural Earth.

Footprint of Extreme rain in Australia, 5 to 15 December 2020: stations that set records in the event
Station	Type	Value	Date
Midland	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	2020-12-14
Indee	Record daily precipitation	73.6 mm (2.9 in)	2020-12-12
Noreena Downs	Record daily precipitation	60.2 mm (2.4 in)	2020-12-11
Bonney Downs	Record daily precipitation	87.0 mm (3.4 in)	2020-12-11
Wallareenya	Record daily precipitation	80.0 mm (3.1 in)	2020-12-11
Udialla	Record daily precipitation	82.0 mm (3.2 in)	2020-12-09
Murchison Downs	Record daily precipitation	57.4 mm (2.3 in)	2020-12-10
Moola Bulla	Record daily precipitation	43.0 mm (1.7 in)	2020-12-11
Country Downs	Record daily precipitation	140.8 mm (5.5 in)	2020-12-10
Derby Aero	Record daily precipitation	95.6 mm (3.8 in)	2020-12-10
Yuin	Record daily precipitation	25.6 mm (1.0 in)	2020-12-09
Dampier Salt	Record daily precipitation	58.6 mm (2.3 in)	2020-12-11
Cygnet Bay	Record daily precipitation	165.2 mm (6.5 in)	2020-12-09
Woolgorong	Record daily precipitation	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	2020-12-09
Mount Florance	Record daily precipitation	73.7 mm (2.9 in)	2020-12-11
Port Smith	Record daily precipitation	223.0 mm (8.8 in)	2020-12-10
Dalgety Downs	Record daily precipitation	24.0 mm (0.9 in)	2020-12-11

Records per Day

Peak day 37

Records set or tied each day from 5 December 2020 to 15 December 2020. The most in one day was 37 on 11 December 2020.

Records per day during Extreme rain in Australia, 5 to 15 December 2020
Date	Records
2020-12-05	1
2020-12-06	2
2020-12-07	3
2020-12-08	20
2020-12-09	26
2020-12-10	22
2020-12-11	37
2020-12-12	18
2020-12-13	3
2020-12-14	12
2020-12-15	1

Top Records by Margin

Margin over the record replaced

Top records of Extreme rain in Australia, 5 to 15 December 2020 ranked by margin
Port Smith, 12-10	205.0 mm (8.1 in)
Cygnet Bay, 12-09	151.8 mm (6.0 in)
Country Downs, 12-10	101.9 mm (4.0 in)
Udialla, 12-09	72.6 mm (2.9 in)
Indee, 12-12	68.5 mm (2.7 in)
Derby Aero, 12-10	65.4 mm (2.6 in)
Wallareenya, 12-11	63.7 mm (2.5 in)
Dampier Salt, 12-11	58.6 mm (2.3 in)
Bonney Downs, 12-11	55.8 mm (2.2 in)
Bonney Downs, 12-12	54.2 mm (2.1 in)
Murchison Downs, 12-10	53.4 mm (2.1 in)
Noreena Downs, 12-11	51.6 mm (2.0 in)
Mount Florance, 12-11	50.7 mm (2.0 in)
Indee, 12-11	48.3 mm (1.9 in)
Moola Bulla, 12-11	27.8 mm (1.1 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

145 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, 5 to 15 December 2020
Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
17	105
69	101
52	99
56	72
64	87
24	112
73	49
53	45
54	41
48	65
23	89
28	109
102	49
65	49
24	79
59	51
152	25
51	25
1	106
205	20
64	48
42	90
8	110
51	63
8	112
5	106
17	93
32	70
7	106
126	4
3	119
9	71
27	46
21	30
43	20
4	95
86	13
31	49
38	65
34	65
1	105
0	112
7	80
51	13
2	88
6	79
24	33
21	48
8	65
0	90
54	25
34	32
6	70
2	79
4	70
6	69
46	7
49	46
41	8
19	65
3	74
4	61
6	57
43	33
34	25
14	45
21	20
23	41
25	25
1	71
14	25
3	61
33	8
2	62
0	57
14	26
30	45
7	45
6	21
6	36
3	45
25	20
6	41
11	23
2	50
5	32
4	46
23	20
24	5
27	5
10	45
6	39
1	41
0	45
1	45
16	20
2	54
4	47
4	45
7	20
6	25
5	21
3	23
11	22
10	20
11	8
7	9
7	12
9	8
1	45
20	25
12	8
5	8
2	39
26	12
7	27
1	20
5	25
3	7
2	28
2	28
7	12
3	30
1	21
1	15
7	19
7	26
0	37
2	22
2	8
0	11
7	6
0	28
1	25
2	24
1	27
4	13
8	11
1	3
6	2
5	4
2	22
5	3
4	12
0	9

Compared With Other Events

Station records per event

Station records in Extreme rain in Australia, 5 to 15 December 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, 5 to 15 December 2020 (this event)	145 records

Every Record Set

20 of 145

Every record set or tied during Extreme rain in Australia, 5 to 15 December 2020, in date order
Date	Station	Record	Value	Margin	Years stood	Significance
2020-12-09	Udialla	Record daily precipitation	82.0 mm (3.2 in)	72.6 mm (2.9 in)	49	63 of 100 (Major)
2020-12-09	Yuin	Record daily precipitation	25.6 mm (1.0 in)	23.8 mm (0.9 in)	79	55 of 100 (Notable)
2020-12-09	Cygnet Bay	Record daily precipitation	165.2 mm (6.5 in)	151.8 mm (6.0 in)	25	52 of 100 (Notable)
2020-12-09	Woolgorong	Record daily precipitation	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	0.8 mm (0.03 in)	106	51 of 100 (Notable)
2020-12-10	Murchison Downs	Record daily precipitation	57.4 mm (2.3 in)	53.4 mm (2.1 in)	45	63 of 100 (Major)
2020-12-10	Country Downs	Record daily precipitation	140.8 mm (5.5 in)	101.9 mm (4.0 in)	49	57 of 100 (Notable)
2020-12-10	Derby Aero	Record daily precipitation	95.6 mm (3.8 in)	65.4 mm (2.6 in)	49	57 of 100 (Notable)
2020-12-10	Port Smith	Record daily precipitation	223.0 mm (8.8 in)	205.0 mm (8.1 in)	20	50 of 100 (Notable)
2020-12-11	Noreena Downs	Record daily precipitation	60.2 mm (2.4 in)	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	99	72 of 100 (Major)
2020-12-11	Bonney Downs	Record daily precipitation	87.0 mm (3.4 in)	55.8 mm (2.2 in)	72	70 of 100 (Major)
2020-12-11	Wallareenya	Record daily precipitation	80.0 mm (3.1 in)	63.7 mm (2.5 in)	87	66 of 100 (Major)
2020-12-11	Indee	Record daily precipitation	62.0 mm (2.4 in)	48.3 mm (1.9 in)	65	60 of 100 (Major)
2020-12-11	Moola Bulla	Record daily precipitation	43.0 mm (1.7 in)	27.8 mm (1.1 in)	109	58 of 100 (Notable)
2020-12-11	Dampier Salt	Record daily precipitation	58.6 mm (2.3 in)	58.6 mm (2.3 in)	51	53 of 100 (Notable)
2020-12-11	Mount Florance	Record daily precipitation	73.7 mm (2.9 in)	50.7 mm (2.0 in)	25	51 of 100 (Notable)
2020-12-11	Dalgety Downs	Record daily precipitation	24.0 mm (0.9 in)	24.0 mm (0.9 in)	112	20 of 100 (Routine)
2020-12-12	Indee	Record daily precipitation	73.6 mm (2.9 in)	68.5 mm (2.7 in)	101	80 of 100 (Exceptional)
2020-12-12	Bonney Downs	Record daily precipitation	68.0 mm (2.7 in)	54.2 mm (2.1 in)	41	60 of 100 (Major)
2020-12-12	Noreena Downs	Record daily precipitation	150.6 mm (5.9 in)	22.8 mm (0.9 in)	89	60 of 100 (Major)
2020-12-14	Midland	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	17.3 mm (0.7 in)	105	82 of 100 (Exceptional)

The daily ledgers keep a limited number of records per day, so this list has 20 of the 145 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.

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
17	105
69	101
52	99
56	72
64	87
24	112
73	49
53	45
54	41
48	65
23	89
28	109
102	49
65	49
24	79
59	51
152	25
51	25
1	106
205	20
64	48
42	90
8	110
51	63
8	112
5	106
17	93
32	70
7	106
126	4
3	119
9	71
27	46
21	30
43	20
4	95
86	13
31	49
38	65
34	65
1	105
0	112
7	80
51	13
2	88
6	79
24	33
21	48
8	65
0	90
54	25
34	32
6	70
2	79
4	70
6	69
46	7
49	46
41	8
19	65
3	74
4	61
6	57
43	33
34	25
14	45
21	20
23	41
25	25
1	71
14	25
3	61
33	8
2	62
0	57
14	26
30	45
7	45
6	21
6	36
3	45
25	20
6	41
11	23
2	50
5	32
4	46
23	20
24	5
27	5
10	45
6	39
1	41
0	45
1	45
16	20
2	54
4	47
4	45
7	20
6	25
5	21
3	23
11	22
10	20
11	8
7	9
7	12
9	8
1	45
20	25
12	8
5	8
2	39
26	12
7	27
1	20
5	25
3	7
2	28
2	28
7	12
3	30
1	21
1	15
7	19
7	26
0	37
2	22
2	8
0	11
7	6
0	28
1	25
2	24
1	27
4	13
8	11
1	3
6	2
5	4
2	22
5	3
4	12
0	9

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
17	105
69	101
52	99
56	72
64	87
24	112
73	49
53	45
54	41
48	65
23	89
28	109
102	49
65	49
24	79
59	51
152	25
51	25
1	106
205	20
64	48
42	90
8	110
51	63
8	112
5	106
17	93
32	70
7	106
126	4
3	119
9	71
27	46
21	30
43	20
4	95
86	13
31	49
38	65
34	65
1	105
0	112
7	80
51	13
2	88
6	79
24	33
21	48
8	65
0	90
54	25
34	32
6	70
2	79
4	70
6	69
46	7
49	46
41	8
19	65
3	74
4	61
6	57
43	33
34	25
14	45
21	20
23	41
25	25
1	71
14	25
3	61
33	8
2	62
0	57
14	26
30	45
7	45
6	21
6	36
3	45
25	20
6	41
11	23
2	50
5	32
4	46
23	20
24	5
27	5
10	45
6	39
1	41
0	45
1	45
16	20
2	54
4	47
4	45
7	20
6	25
5	21
3	23
11	22
10	20
11	8
7	9
7	12
9	8
1	45
20	25
12	8
5	8
2	39
26	12
7	27
1	20
5	25
3	7
2	28
2	28
7	12
3	30
1	21
1	15
7	19
7	26
0	37
2	22
2	8
0	11
7	6
0	28
1	25
2	24
1	27
4	13
8	11
1	3
6	2
5	4
2	22
5	3
4	12
0	9

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
17	105
69	101
52	99
56	72
64	87
24	112
73	49
53	45
54	41
48	65
23	89
28	109
102	49
65	49
24	79
59	51
152	25
51	25
1	106
205	20
64	48
42	90
8	110
51	63
8	112
5	106
17	93
32	70
7	106
126	4
3	119
9	71
27	46
21	30
43	20
4	95
86	13
31	49
38	65
34	65
1	105
0	112
7	80
51	13
2	88
6	79
24	33
21	48
8	65
0	90
54	25
34	32
6	70
2	79
4	70
6	69
46	7
49	46
41	8
19	65
3	74
4	61
6	57
43	33
34	25
14	45
21	20
23	41
25	25
1	71
14	25
3	61
33	8
2	62
0	57
14	26
30	45
7	45
6	21
6	36
3	45
25	20
6	41
11	23
2	50
5	32
4	46
23	20
24	5
27	5
10	45
6	39
1	41
0	45
1	45
16	20
2	54
4	47
4	45
7	20
6	25
5	21
3	23
11	22
10	20
11	8
7	9
7	12
9	8
1	45
20	25
12	8
5	8
2	39
26	12
7	27
1	20
5	25
3	7
2	28
2	28
7	12
3	30
1	21
1	15
7	19
7	26
0	37
2	22
2	8
0	11
7	6
0	28
1	25
2	24
1	27
4	13
8	11
1	3
6	2
5	4
2	22
5	3
4	12
0	9