Extreme rain in Australia, 31 December 2023 to 12 January 2024

Name: Extreme rain in Australia, 31 December 2023 to 12 January 2024
Start: 2023-12-31
End: 2024-01-12
Location: Australia

Extreme rain in Australia, 31 December 2023 to 12 January 2024: 773 records at 611 stations, peak on 8 January 2024. Closed.

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

Key Facts

Extreme rain in Australia, 31 December 2023 to 12 January 2024 set or tied 773 station records at 611 stations.
It ran from 31 December 2023 to 12 January 2024 (13 days) and its peak day was 8 January 2024.
Status: closed.
Elliston set a daily record precipitation of 38.6 mm (1.5 in) on 6 January 2024.
The busiest day was 8 January 2024 with 331 records.
The oldest broken record in the ranked list had stood for 143 years.

Footprint

31 December 2023 to 12 January 2024

The area covered by Extreme rain in Australia, 31 December 2023 to 12 January 2024 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, 31 December 2023 to 12 January 2024: stations that set records in the event
Station	Type	Value	Date
Elliston	Record daily precipitation	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	2024-01-06
Penshurst (Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	63.4 mm (2.5 in)	2024-01-08
Ensay	Record daily precipitation	96.2 mm (3.8 in)	2024-01-09
Montrose	Record daily precipitation	82.0 mm (3.2 in)	2024-01-08
Raywood	Record daily precipitation	69.4 mm (2.7 in)	2024-01-08
Stanhope	Record daily precipitation	55.0 mm (2.2 in)	2024-01-08
Lake Boga	Record daily precipitation	56.0 mm (2.2 in)	2024-01-08
Heathcote	Record daily precipitation	154.4 mm (6.1 in)	2024-01-08
Rainbow Post Office	Record daily precipitation	48.4 mm (1.9 in)	2024-01-08
Cape Willoughby	Record daily precipitation	32.6 mm (1.3 in)	2024-01-08
Broadford	Record daily precipitation	120.6 mm (4.7 in)	2024-01-08
Oatlands Post Office	Record daily precipitation	37.2 mm (1.5 in)	2024-01-08
Mincha	Record daily precipitation	48.6 mm (1.9 in)	2024-01-08
Mulwala Post Office	Record daily precipitation	59.2 mm (2.3 in)	2024-01-08
Burkes Flat	Record daily precipitation	52.0 mm (2.0 in)	2024-01-03
Swifts Creek	Record daily precipitation	75.0 mm (3.0 in)	2024-01-08
Lancefield	Record daily precipitation	72.0 mm (2.8 in)	2024-01-08
Avenel (Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	71.6 mm (2.8 in)	2024-01-08
Kerang	Record daily precipitation	56.8 mm (2.2 in)	2024-01-08
Hillston Airport	Record daily precipitation	48.6 mm (1.9 in)	2024-01-08

Records per Day

Peak day 331

Records set or tied each day from 31 December 2023 to 12 January 2024. The most in one day was 331 on 8 January 2024.

Records per day during Extreme rain in Australia, 31 December 2023 to 12 January 2024
Date	Records
2023-12-31	1
2024-01-01	2
2024-01-02	8
2024-01-03	91
2024-01-04	18
2024-01-05	10
2024-01-06	43
2024-01-07	115
2024-01-08	331
2024-01-09	119
2024-01-10	19
2024-01-11	12
2024-01-12	4

Top Records by Margin

Margin over the record replaced

Top records of Extreme rain in Australia, 31 December 2023 to 12 January 2024 ranked by margin
Heathcote, 01-08	96.5 mm (3.8 in)
Raywood, 01-08	61.0 mm (2.4 in)
Swifts Creek, 01-08	57.2 mm (2.3 in)
Ensay, 01-09	51.7 mm (2.0 in)
Stanhope, 01-08	46.9 mm (1.8 in)
Montrose, 01-08	44.2 mm (1.7 in)
Avenel (Post Office), 01-08	42.9 mm (1.7 in)
Lake Boga, 01-08	42.8 mm (1.7 in)
Mulwala Post Office, 01-08	41.7 mm (1.6 in)
Penshurst (Post Office), 01-08	38.0 mm (1.5 in)
Mincha, 01-08	35.1 mm (1.4 in)
Rainbow Post Office, 01-08	34.2 mm (1.3 in)
Hillston Airport, 01-08	33.4 mm (1.3 in)
Kerang, 01-08	32.4 mm (1.3 in)
Lancefield, 01-08	29.8 mm (1.2 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, 31 December 2023 to 12 January 2024
Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
25	104
52	101
38	137
44	97
61	92
47	92
43	88
97	54
34	88
26	117
21	84
25	104
35	88
42	92
29	120
57	72
30	97
43	72
32	88
33	137
25	88
24	126
30	97
25	51
27	97
30	88
41	52
22	120
15	126
20	101
19	104
45	36
25	126
38	60
22	97
26	85
20	130
30	88
24	97
52	53
31	88
29	89
22	120
35	49
33	143
31	64
17	97
14	126
21	89
38	38
19	97
16	97
36	28
18	126
22	88
19	102
47	33
60	26
34	41
58	49
21	108
32	24
60	29
40	24
14	101
28	123
13	113
32	64
17	113
22	72
23	88
40	52
17	51
13	126
12	126
54	20
17	126
15	88
11	101
43	28
63	12
3	126
16	110
31	20
26	29
27	86
57	25
20	52
18	126
21	126
58	25
13	120
25	12
80	29
34	24
29	48
12	89
42	26
40	48
15	88
52	29
14	72
10	101
12	134
40	12
49	20
42	65
37	33
10	134
45	36
13	97
17	137
33	60
38	29
37	29
13	60
8	138
6	101
13	72
5	132
17	86
32	44
40	12
13	88
52	12
42	12
24	22
9	97
20	46
6	126
7	137
6	101
27	82
25	82
37	49
12	88
16	82
20	52
7	101
12	88
36	33
6	137
8	72
27	48
35	33
25	33
20	24
6	137
27	33
33	12
7	110
16	89
7	126
76	1
6	104
10	31
9	98
26	61
16	72
6	102
7	120
7	102
7	126
28	44
32	8
34	29
42	29
11	81
4	101
35	15
6	101
27	53
11	89
9	88
6	97
11	89
5	137
2	78
8	89
16	72
11	88
3	101
8	89
3	104
42	49
11	86
3	100
23	48
42	12
16	72
4	120
33	1
16	36
31	29
8	88
13	41
2	101
6	88
17	41
6	88

Compared With Other Events

Station records per event

Station records in Extreme rain in Australia, 31 December 2023 to 12 January 2024 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, 31 December 2023 to 12 January 2024 (this event)	773 records

Every Record Set

20 of 773

Every record set or tied during Extreme rain in Australia, 31 December 2023 to 12 January 2024, in date order
Date	Station	Record	Value	Margin	Years stood	Significance
2024-01-03	Burkes Flat	Record daily precipitation	52.0 mm (2.0 in)	29.1 mm (1.1 in)	120	69 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-06	Elliston	Record daily precipitation	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	104	80 of 100 (Exceptional)
2024-01-08	Penshurst (Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	63.4 mm (2.5 in)	38.0 mm (1.5 in)	137	80 of 100 (Exceptional)
2024-01-08	Montrose	Record daily precipitation	82.0 mm (3.2 in)	44.2 mm (1.7 in)	97	79 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-08	Raywood	Record daily precipitation	69.4 mm (2.7 in)	61.0 mm (2.4 in)	92	77 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-08	Stanhope	Record daily precipitation	55.0 mm (2.2 in)	46.9 mm (1.8 in)	92	77 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-08	Lake Boga	Record daily precipitation	56.0 mm (2.2 in)	42.8 mm (1.7 in)	88	76 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-08	Heathcote	Record daily precipitation	154.4 mm (6.1 in)	96.5 mm (3.8 in)	54	76 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-08	Rainbow Post Office	Record daily precipitation	48.4 mm (1.9 in)	34.2 mm (1.3 in)	88	75 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-08	Cape Willoughby	Record daily precipitation	32.6 mm (1.3 in)	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	117	74 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-08	Broadford	Record daily precipitation	120.6 mm (4.7 in)	20.5 mm (0.8 in)	84	73 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-08	Oatlands Post Office	Record daily precipitation	37.2 mm (1.5 in)	25.3 mm (1.0 in)	104	73 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-08	Mincha	Record daily precipitation	48.6 mm (1.9 in)	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	88	72 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-08	Mulwala Post Office	Record daily precipitation	59.2 mm (2.3 in)	41.7 mm (1.6 in)	92	71 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-08	Swifts Creek	Record daily precipitation	75.0 mm (3.0 in)	57.2 mm (2.3 in)	72	69 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-08	Lancefield	Record daily precipitation	72.0 mm (2.8 in)	29.8 mm (1.2 in)	97	69 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-08	Avenel (Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	71.6 mm (2.8 in)	42.9 mm (1.7 in)	72	69 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-08	Kerang	Record daily precipitation	56.8 mm (2.2 in)	32.4 mm (1.3 in)	88	68 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-08	Hillston Airport	Record daily precipitation	48.6 mm (1.9 in)	33.4 mm (1.3 in)	137	67 of 100 (Major)
2024-01-09	Ensay	Record daily precipitation	96.2 mm (3.8 in)	51.7 mm (2.0 in)	101	80 of 100 (Exceptional)

The daily ledgers keep a limited number of records per day, so this list has 20 of the 773 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
25	104
52	101
38	137
44	97
61	92
47	92
43	88
97	54
34	88
26	117
21	84
25	104
35	88
42	92
29	120
57	72
30	97
43	72
32	88
33	137
25	88
24	126
30	97
25	51
27	97
30	88
41	52
22	120
15	126
20	101
19	104
45	36
25	126
38	60
22	97
26	85
20	130
30	88
24	97
52	53
31	88
29	89
22	120
35	49
33	143
31	64
17	97
14	126
21	89
38	38
19	97
16	97
36	28
18	126
22	88
19	102
47	33
60	26
34	41
58	49
21	108
32	24
60	29
40	24
14	101
28	123
13	113
32	64
17	113
22	72
23	88
40	52
17	51
13	126
12	126
54	20
17	126
15	88
11	101
43	28
63	12
3	126
16	110
31	20
26	29
27	86
57	25
20	52
18	126
21	126
58	25
13	120
25	12
80	29
34	24
29	48
12	89
42	26
40	48
15	88
52	29
14	72
10	101
12	134
40	12
49	20
42	65
37	33
10	134
45	36
13	97
17	137
33	60
38	29
37	29
13	60
8	138
6	101
13	72
5	132
17	86
32	44
40	12
13	88
52	12
42	12
24	22
9	97
20	46
6	126
7	137
6	101
27	82
25	82
37	49
12	88
16	82
20	52
7	101
12	88
36	33
6	137
8	72
27	48
35	33
25	33
20	24
6	137
27	33
33	12
7	110
16	89
7	126
76	1
6	104
10	31
9	98
26	61
16	72
6	102
7	120
7	102
7	126
28	44
32	8
34	29
42	29
11	81
4	101
35	15
6	101
27	53
11	89
9	88
6	97
11	89
5	137
2	78
8	89
16	72
11	88
3	101
8	89
3	104
42	49
11	86
3	100
23	48
42	12
16	72
4	120
33	1
16	36
31	29
8	88
13	41
2	101
6	88
17	41
6	88

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
25	104
52	101
38	137
44	97
61	92
47	92
43	88
97	54
34	88
26	117
21	84
25	104
35	88
42	92
29	120
57	72
30	97
43	72
32	88
33	137
25	88
24	126
30	97
25	51
27	97
30	88
41	52
22	120
15	126
20	101
19	104
45	36
25	126
38	60
22	97
26	85
20	130
30	88
24	97
52	53
31	88
29	89
22	120
35	49
33	143
31	64
17	97
14	126
21	89
38	38
19	97
16	97
36	28
18	126
22	88
19	102
47	33
60	26
34	41
58	49
21	108
32	24
60	29
40	24
14	101
28	123
13	113
32	64
17	113
22	72
23	88
40	52
17	51
13	126
12	126
54	20
17	126
15	88
11	101
43	28
63	12
3	126
16	110
31	20
26	29
27	86
57	25
20	52
18	126
21	126
58	25
13	120
25	12
80	29
34	24
29	48
12	89
42	26
40	48
15	88
52	29
14	72
10	101
12	134
40	12
49	20
42	65
37	33
10	134
45	36
13	97
17	137
33	60
38	29
37	29
13	60
8	138
6	101
13	72
5	132
17	86
32	44
40	12
13	88
52	12
42	12
24	22
9	97
20	46
6	126
7	137
6	101
27	82
25	82
37	49
12	88
16	82
20	52
7	101
12	88
36	33
6	137
8	72
27	48
35	33
25	33
20	24
6	137
27	33
33	12
7	110
16	89
7	126
76	1
6	104
10	31
9	98
26	61
16	72
6	102
7	120
7	102
7	126
28	44
32	8
34	29
42	29
11	81
4	101
35	15
6	101
27	53
11	89
9	88
6	97
11	89
5	137
2	78
8	89
16	72
11	88
3	101
8	89
3	104
42	49
11	86
3	100
23	48
42	12
16	72
4	120
33	1
16	36
31	29
8	88
13	41
2	101
6	88
17	41
6	88

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
25	104
52	101
38	137
44	97
61	92
47	92
43	88
97	54
34	88
26	117
21	84
25	104
35	88
42	92
29	120
57	72
30	97
43	72
32	88
33	137
25	88
24	126
30	97
25	51
27	97
30	88
41	52
22	120
15	126
20	101
19	104
45	36
25	126
38	60
22	97
26	85
20	130
30	88
24	97
52	53
31	88
29	89
22	120
35	49
33	143
31	64
17	97
14	126
21	89
38	38
19	97
16	97
36	28
18	126
22	88
19	102
47	33
60	26
34	41
58	49
21	108
32	24
60	29
40	24
14	101
28	123
13	113
32	64
17	113
22	72
23	88
40	52
17	51
13	126
12	126
54	20
17	126
15	88
11	101
43	28
63	12
3	126
16	110
31	20
26	29
27	86
57	25
20	52
18	126
21	126
58	25
13	120
25	12
80	29
34	24
29	48
12	89
42	26
40	48
15	88
52	29
14	72
10	101
12	134
40	12
49	20
42	65
37	33
10	134
45	36
13	97
17	137
33	60
38	29
37	29
13	60
8	138
6	101
13	72
5	132
17	86
32	44
40	12
13	88
52	12
42	12
24	22
9	97
20	46
6	126
7	137
6	101
27	82
25	82
37	49
12	88
16	82
20	52
7	101
12	88
36	33
6	137
8	72
27	48
35	33
25	33
20	24
6	137
27	33
33	12
7	110
16	89
7	126
76	1
6	104
10	31
9	98
26	61
16	72
6	102
7	120
7	102
7	126
28	44
32	8
34	29
42	29
11	81
4	101
35	15
6	101
27	53
11	89
9	88
6	97
11	89
5	137
2	78
8	89
16	72
11	88
3	101
8	89
3	104
42	49
11	86
3	100
23	48
42	12
16	72
4	120
33	1
16	36
31	29
8	88
13	41
2	101
6	88
17	41
6	88