Extreme rain in Australia, 13 to 20 January 2023

Name: Extreme rain in Australia, 13 to 20 January 2023
Start: 2023-01-13
End: 2023-01-20
Location: Australia

Extreme rain in Australia, 13 to 20 January 2023: 137 records at 130 stations, peak on 18 January 2023. Closed.

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

Key Facts

Extreme rain in Australia, 13 to 20 January 2023 set or tied 137 station records at 130 stations.
It ran from 13 January 2023 to 20 January 2023 (8 days) and its peak day was 18 January 2023.
Status: closed.
Gladstone (Old Post Office) set a daily record precipitation of 42.4 mm (1.7 in) on 19 January 2023.
The busiest day was 18 January 2023 with 88 records.
The oldest broken record in the ranked list had stood for 136 years.

Footprint

13 to 20 January 2023

The area covered by Extreme rain in Australia, 13 to 20 January 2023 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, 13 to 20 January 2023: stations that set records in the event
Station	Type	Value	Date
Gladstone (Old Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	42.4 mm (1.7 in)	2023-01-19
Fish Creek (Hoddle Range)	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	2023-01-18
Bungowannah (Roseleigh)	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	2023-01-17
South Mount Cameron (Gladstone	Record daily precipitation	35.2 mm (1.4 in)	2023-01-19
Cathcart (Old Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	2023-01-18
Hay (Bedarbidgal)	Record daily precipitation	25.8 mm (1.0 in)	2023-01-18
Woomera (South Gap Station)	Record daily precipitation	2.2 mm (0.09 in)	2023-01-15
Merriwagga (Devon Street)	Record daily precipitation	22.0 mm (0.9 in)	2023-01-15
Eurongilly (Bundaleer)	Record daily precipitation	8.0 mm (0.31 in)	2023-01-16
Port Lincoln (Big Swamp)	Record daily precipitation	11.0 mm (0.4 in)	2023-01-18
Cummins	Record daily precipitation	10.2 mm (0.4 in)	2023-01-18
Tumby Bay	Record daily precipitation	3.6 mm (0.14 in)	2023-01-18
Port Lincoln (Woolga)	Record daily precipitation	19.4 mm (0.8 in)	2023-01-18
Port Lincoln (Westmere)	Record daily precipitation	10.4 mm (0.4 in)	2023-01-18
Mount Hope (Fairview)	Record daily precipitation	13.6 mm (0.5 in)	2023-01-18
Pelican Lagoon	Record daily precipitation	15.8 mm (0.6 in)	2023-01-18
Strathdownie	Record daily precipitation	13.2 mm (0.5 in)	2023-01-18
Launceston (Kings Meadows)	Record daily precipitation	13.0 mm (0.5 in)	2023-01-18
Cape Sorell	Record daily precipitation	21.6 mm (0.9 in)	2023-01-18
Lunawanna	Record daily precipitation	16.4 mm (0.6 in)	2023-01-19

Records per Day

Peak day 88

Records set or tied each day from 13 January 2023 to 20 January 2023. The most in one day was 88 on 18 January 2023.

Top Records by Margin

Margin over the record replaced

Top records of Extreme rain in Australia, 13 to 20 January 2023 ranked by margin
Bungowannah (Roseleigh), 01-17	22.1 mm (0.9 in)
South Mount Cameron (Gladstone, 01-19	21.5 mm (0.8 in)
Hay (Bedarbidgal), 01-18	20.6 mm (0.8 in)
Gladstone (Old Post Office), 01-19	19.5 mm (0.8 in)
Cathcart (Old Post Office), 01-18	15.5 mm (0.6 in)
Pelican Lagoon, 01-18	13.6 mm (0.5 in)
Merriwagga (Devon Street), 01-15	12.9 mm (0.5 in)
Fish Creek (Hoddle Range), 01-18	11.2 mm (0.4 in)
Strathdownie, 01-18	9.6 mm (0.38 in)
Port Lincoln (Westmere), 01-18	8.8 mm (0.35 in)
Cape Sorell, 01-18	6.1 mm (0.24 in)
Mount Hope (Fairview), 01-18	4.5 mm (0.18 in)
Launceston (Kings Meadows), 01-18	4.1 mm (0.16 in)
Port Lincoln (Big Swamp), 01-18	3.4 mm (0.13 in)
Lunawanna, 01-19	2.2 mm (0.09 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

137 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, 13 to 20 January 2023
Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
6	100
20	83
3	123
11	67
22	52
22	57
2	96
0	117
0	123
0	136
9	43
5	76
16	60
13	53
2	76
14	32
1	76
21	33
10	56
4	60
14	33
1	68
10	48
11	48
8	44
0	60
5	60
4	51
11	28
12	40
5	41
14	9
18	16
10	48
1	63
4	51
23	5
0	60
9	48
0	60
3	57
1	55
13	8
1	56
8	49
20	15
21	15
2	57
1	57
3	51
10	32
3	51
3	51
2	48
0	51
5	45
4	28
3	32
3	43
15	16
11	25
9	8
1	45
0	49
3	39
1	44
9	12
3	32
1	44
2	43
4	32
2	43
10	20
5	32
9	17
5	32
6	8
0	43
5	28
10	12
0	41
1	41
11	11
11	12
3	36
3	32
8	24
0	37
5	12
1	32
1	28
8	12
2	33
4	29
2	12
2	32
1	32
3	29
0	27
4	16
6	11
8	12
0	11
1	35
1	35
4	16
7	15
2	29
0	32
0	32
0	32
2	20
6	4
4	25
2	29
3	12
8	12
2	24
2	11
4	8
2	15
3	11
1	17
1	15
0	12
2	11
2	11
3	8
2	8
1	11
2	12
1	23
0	15
2	15
0	11
0	4
1	3

Compared With Other Events

Station records per event

Station records in Extreme rain in Australia, 13 to 20 January 2023 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, 13 to 20 January 2023 (this event)	137 records

Every Record Set

20 of 137

Every record set or tied during Extreme rain in Australia, 13 to 20 January 2023, in date order
Date	Station	Record	Value	Margin	Years stood	Significance
2023-01-15	Woomera (South Gap Station)	Record daily precipitation	2.2 mm (0.09 in)	0.2 mm (0.01 in)	117	20 of 100 (Routine)
2023-01-15	Merriwagga (Devon Street)	Record daily precipitation	22.0 mm (0.9 in)	12.9 mm (0.5 in)	53	20 of 100 (Routine)
2023-01-16	Eurongilly (Bundaleer)	Record daily precipitation	8.0 mm (0.31 in)	0.1 mm (0.00 in)	136	20 of 100 (Routine)
2023-01-17	Bungowannah (Roseleigh)	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	22.1 mm (0.9 in)	52	41 of 100 (Notable)
2023-01-18	Fish Creek (Hoddle Range)	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	11.2 mm (0.4 in)	67	42 of 100 (Notable)
2023-01-18	Cathcart (Old Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	15.5 mm (0.6 in)	60	38 of 100 (Notable)
2023-01-18	Hay (Bedarbidgal)	Record daily precipitation	25.8 mm (1.0 in)	20.6 mm (0.8 in)	33	34 of 100 (Routine)
2023-01-18	Port Lincoln (Big Swamp)	Record daily precipitation	11.0 mm (0.4 in)	3.4 mm (0.13 in)	123	20 of 100 (Routine)
2023-01-18	Cummins	Record daily precipitation	10.2 mm (0.4 in)	2.1 mm (0.08 in)	76	20 of 100 (Routine)
2023-01-18	Tumby Bay	Record daily precipitation	3.6 mm (0.14 in)	1.3 mm (0.05 in)	76	20 of 100 (Routine)
2023-01-18	Port Lincoln (Woolga)	Record daily precipitation	19.4 mm (0.8 in)	0.3 mm (0.01 in)	123	20 of 100 (Routine)
2023-01-18	Port Lincoln (Westmere)	Record daily precipitation	10.4 mm (0.4 in)	8.8 mm (0.35 in)	43	20 of 100 (Routine)
2023-01-18	Mount Hope (Fairview)	Record daily precipitation	13.6 mm (0.5 in)	4.5 mm (0.18 in)	76	20 of 100 (Routine)
2023-01-18	Pelican Lagoon	Record daily precipitation	15.8 mm (0.6 in)	13.6 mm (0.5 in)	32	20 of 100 (Routine)
2023-01-18	Strathdownie	Record daily precipitation	13.2 mm (0.5 in)	9.6 mm (0.38 in)	56	20 of 100 (Routine)
2023-01-18	Launceston (Kings Meadows)	Record daily precipitation	13.0 mm (0.5 in)	4.1 mm (0.16 in)	60	20 of 100 (Routine)
2023-01-18	Cape Sorell	Record daily precipitation	21.6 mm (0.9 in)	6.1 mm (0.24 in)	100	20 of 100 (Routine)
2023-01-19	Gladstone (Old Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	42.4 mm (1.7 in)	19.5 mm (0.8 in)	83	49 of 100 (Notable)
2023-01-19	South Mount Cameron (Gladstone	Record daily precipitation	35.2 mm (1.4 in)	21.5 mm (0.8 in)	57	41 of 100 (Notable)
2023-01-19	Lunawanna	Record daily precipitation	16.4 mm (0.6 in)	2.2 mm (0.09 in)	96	20 of 100 (Routine)

The daily ledgers keep a limited number of records per day, so this list has 20 of the 137 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.

Date	Records
2023-01-13	1
2023-01-14	2
2023-01-15	6
2023-01-16	7
2023-01-17	9
2023-01-18	88
2023-01-19	23
2023-01-20	1

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
6	100
20	83
3	123
11	67
22	52
22	57
2	96
0	117
0	123
0	136
9	43
5	76
16	60
13	53
2	76
14	32
1	76
21	33
10	56
4	60
14	33
1	68
10	48
11	48
8	44
0	60
5	60
4	51
11	28
12	40
5	41
14	9
18	16
10	48
1	63
4	51
23	5
0	60
9	48
0	60
3	57
1	55
13	8
1	56
8	49
20	15
21	15
2	57
1	57
3	51
10	32
3	51
3	51
2	48
0	51
5	45
4	28
3	32
3	43
15	16
11	25
9	8
1	45
0	49
3	39
1	44
9	12
3	32
1	44
2	43
4	32
2	43
10	20
5	32
9	17
5	32
6	8
0	43
5	28
10	12
0	41
1	41
11	11
11	12
3	36
3	32
8	24
0	37
5	12
1	32
1	28
8	12
2	33
4	29
2	12
2	32
1	32
3	29
0	27
4	16
6	11
8	12
0	11
1	35
1	35
4	16
7	15
2	29
0	32
0	32
0	32
2	20
6	4
4	25
2	29
3	12
8	12
2	24
2	11
4	8
2	15
3	11
1	17
1	15
0	12
2	11
2	11
3	8
2	8
1	11
2	12
1	23
0	15
2	15
0	11
0	4
1	3

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
6	100
20	83
3	123
11	67
22	52
22	57
2	96
0	117
0	123
0	136
9	43
5	76
16	60
13	53
2	76
14	32
1	76
21	33
10	56
4	60
14	33
1	68
10	48
11	48
8	44
0	60
5	60
4	51
11	28
12	40
5	41
14	9
18	16
10	48
1	63
4	51
23	5
0	60
9	48
0	60
3	57
1	55
13	8
1	56
8	49
20	15
21	15
2	57
1	57
3	51
10	32
3	51
3	51
2	48
0	51
5	45
4	28
3	32
3	43
15	16
11	25
9	8
1	45
0	49
3	39
1	44
9	12
3	32
1	44
2	43
4	32
2	43
10	20
5	32
9	17
5	32
6	8
0	43
5	28
10	12
0	41
1	41
11	11
11	12
3	36
3	32
8	24
0	37
5	12
1	32
1	28
8	12
2	33
4	29
2	12
2	32
1	32
3	29
0	27
4	16
6	11
8	12
0	11
1	35
1	35
4	16
7	15
2	29
0	32
0	32
0	32
2	20
6	4
4	25
2	29
3	12
8	12
2	24
2	11
4	8
2	15
3	11
1	17
1	15
0	12
2	11
2	11
3	8
2	8
1	11
2	12
1	23
0	15
2	15
0	11
0	4
1	3

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
6	100
20	83
3	123
11	67
22	52
22	57
2	96
0	117
0	123
0	136
9	43
5	76
16	60
13	53
2	76
14	32
1	76
21	33
10	56
4	60
14	33
1	68
10	48
11	48
8	44
0	60
5	60
4	51
11	28
12	40
5	41
14	9
18	16
10	48
1	63
4	51
23	5
0	60
9	48
0	60
3	57
1	55
13	8
1	56
8	49
20	15
21	15
2	57
1	57
3	51
10	32
3	51
3	51
2	48
0	51
5	45
4	28
3	32
3	43
15	16
11	25
9	8
1	45
0	49
3	39
1	44
9	12
3	32
1	44
2	43
4	32
2	43
10	20
5	32
9	17
5	32
6	8
0	43
5	28
10	12
0	41
1	41
11	11
11	12
3	36
3	32
8	24
0	37
5	12
1	32
1	28
8	12
2	33
4	29
2	12
2	32
1	32
3	29
0	27
4	16
6	11
8	12
0	11
1	35
1	35
4	16
7	15
2	29
0	32
0	32
0	32
2	20
6	4
4	25
2	29
3	12
8	12
2	24
2	11
4	8
2	15
3	11
1	17
1	15
0	12
2	11
2	11
3	8
2	8
1	11
2	12
1	23
0	15
2	15
0	11
0	4
1	3