Extreme rain in Australia, 23 April to 4 May 2020

Name: Extreme rain in Australia, 23 April to 4 May 2020
Start: 2020-04-23
End: 2020-05-04
Location: Australia

Extreme rain in Australia, 23 April to 4 May 2020: 833 records at 662 stations, peak on 30 April 2020. Closed.

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

Key Facts

Extreme rain in Australia, 23 April to 4 May 2020 set or tied 833 station records at 662 stations.
It ran from 23 April 2020 to 4 May 2020 (12 days) and its peak day was 30 April 2020.
Status: closed.
Beeac (Post Office) set a daily record precipitation of 32.0 mm (1.3 in) on 1 May 2020.
The busiest day was 30 April 2020 with 328 records.
The oldest broken record in the ranked list had stood for 130 years.

Footprint

23 April to 4 May 2020

The area covered by Extreme rain in Australia, 23 April to 4 May 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, 23 April to 4 May 2020: stations that set records in the event
Station	Type	Value	Date
Beeac (Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	2020-05-01
Rutherglen Research	Record daily precipitation	48.4 mm (1.9 in)	2020-04-30
Archerton	Record daily precipitation	104.4 mm (4.1 in)	2020-04-30
Alawoona	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	2020-04-26
Pooncarie Mail Agency	Record daily precipitation	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	2020-04-30
Watchem	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	2020-04-27
Paruna	Record daily precipitation	32.2 mm (1.3 in)	2020-04-26
Wycheproof (Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	37.0 mm (1.5 in)	2020-04-26
Alawoona (Schells Well)	Record daily precipitation	33.2 mm (1.3 in)	2020-04-26
Cobar (Taringo Downs)	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	2020-04-30
Wooragee	Record daily precipitation	52.2 mm (2.1 in)	2020-04-30
Mansfield (Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	64.4 mm (2.5 in)	2020-04-30
Ivanhoe (Mt Manara)	Record daily precipitation	40.8 mm (1.6 in)	2020-04-30
Warrion	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	2020-05-01
Parilla	Record daily precipitation	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	2020-04-26
Falls Creek (Rocky Valley)	Record daily precipitation	122.2 mm (4.8 in)	2020-04-29
Finley Post Office	Record daily precipitation	31.4 mm (1.2 in)	2020-04-30
Kolora (Wooriwyrite)	Record daily precipitation	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	2020-05-01
Adelaide (Morphett Vale)	Record daily precipitation	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	2020-04-26
Wentworth Post Office	Record daily precipitation	28.6 mm (1.1 in)	2020-04-30

Records per Day

Peak day 328

Records set or tied each day from 23 April 2020 to 4 May 2020. The most in one day was 328 on 30 April 2020.

Records per day during Extreme rain in Australia, 23 April to 4 May 2020
Date	Records
2020-04-23	3
2020-04-24	23
2020-04-25	12
2020-04-26	183
2020-04-27	11
2020-04-28	7
2020-04-29	72
2020-04-30	328
2020-05-01	121
2020-05-02	68
2020-05-03	4
2020-05-04	1

Top Records by Margin

Margin over the record replaced

Top records of Extreme rain in Australia, 23 April to 4 May 2020 ranked by margin
Falls Creek (Rocky Valley), 04-29	87.4 mm (3.4 in)
Archerton, 04-30	55.9 mm (2.2 in)
Mansfield (Post Office), 04-30	38.4 mm (1.5 in)
Rutherglen Research, 04-30	35.7 mm (1.4 in)
Wooragee, 04-30	31.4 mm (1.2 in)
Pooncarie Mail Agency, 04-30	29.2 mm (1.1 in)
Cobar (Taringo Downs), 04-30	28.4 mm (1.1 in)
Alawoona, 04-26	27.9 mm (1.1 in)
Beeac (Post Office), 05-01	23.6 mm (0.9 in)
Watchem, 04-27	23.6 mm (0.9 in)
Ivanhoe (Mt Manara), 04-30	22.0 mm (0.9 in)
Finley Post Office, 04-30	21.5 mm (0.8 in)
Wycheproof (Post Office), 04-26	18.2 mm (0.7 in)
Warrion, 05-01	17.0 mm (0.7 in)
Parilla, 04-26	17.0 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, 23 April to 4 May 2020
Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
24	94
36	85
56	78
28	60
29	89
24	94
17	98
18	111
14	98
28	80
31	85
38	46
22	116
17	63
17	82
22	89
87	49
14	89
16	117
14	124
14	102
19	107
44	63
14	82
12	102
31	52
20	89
40	52
25	63
16	124
39	46
14	111
17	57
28	57
32	25
13	124
27	46
15	107
25	66
35	33
20	64
19	80
55	32
19	124
12	78
15	94
16	94
10	102
26	66
16	94
17	85
23	50
23	89
9	89
29	11
35	47
21	78
11	124
12	124
21	85
27	66
26	66
18	68
18	63
44	32
8	107
22	49
9	107
49	25
24	25
6	130
20	20
18	85
9	124
1	99
11	124
23	52
6	127
15	57
24	60
24	57
16	57
20	52
11	124
13	38
19	60
31	16
7	107
23	16
13	52
9	78
10	124
25	52
28	33
7	102
9	87
9	78
25	20
8	82
16	46
12	78
13	120
19	78
21	65
7	124
6	107
36	46
33	16
17	60
9	94
7	80
5	117
4	117
4	117
6	124
30	13
5	117
10	56
8	78
3	117
3	98
10	89
6	120
10	89
16	65
4	117
17	49
51	4
23	33
5	94
20	11
21	60
9	80
12	78
6	94
8	89
3	102
3	107
7	76
3	126
4	111
25	46
9	78
21	34
17	47
36	4
20	66
5	94
10	60
3	107
16	25
5	61
2	117
2	111
21	47
23	52
4	94
20	54
25	37
13	49
23	46
13	49
26	13
21	14
11	73
6	89
5	80
10	57
7	87
17	47
13	62
1	124
13	49
16	47
12	66
3	91
6	85
3	90
1	98
0	117
13	63
24	11
22	11
12	65
16	57
14	57
4	94
18	52
2	94
6	78
3	89
0	117
22	52
32	33
19	37
15	46
1	94
0	98
14	38
16	11

Compared With Other Events

Station records per event

Station records in Extreme rain in Australia, 23 April to 4 May 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, 23 April to 4 May 2020 (this event)	833 records

Every Record Set

20 of 833

Every record set or tied during Extreme rain in Australia, 23 April to 4 May 2020, in date order
Date	Station	Record	Value	Margin	Years stood	Significance
2020-04-26	Alawoona	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	60	68 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-26	Paruna	Record daily precipitation	32.2 mm (1.3 in)	16.5 mm (0.6 in)	98	65 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-26	Wycheproof (Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	37.0 mm (1.5 in)	18.2 mm (0.7 in)	111	64 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-26	Alawoona (Schells Well)	Record daily precipitation	33.2 mm (1.3 in)	14.1 mm (0.6 in)	98	63 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-26	Parilla	Record daily precipitation	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	17.0 mm (0.7 in)	82	61 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-26	Adelaide (Morphett Vale)	Record daily precipitation	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	15.7 mm (0.6 in)	117	60 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-27	Watchem	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	23.6 mm (0.9 in)	94	67 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-29	Falls Creek (Rocky Valley)	Record daily precipitation	122.2 mm (4.8 in)	87.4 mm (3.4 in)	49	61 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-30	Rutherglen Research	Record daily precipitation	48.4 mm (1.9 in)	35.7 mm (1.4 in)	85	75 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-30	Archerton	Record daily precipitation	104.4 mm (4.1 in)	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	78	71 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-30	Pooncarie Mail Agency	Record daily precipitation	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	89	68 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-30	Cobar (Taringo Downs)	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	80	63 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-30	Wooragee	Record daily precipitation	52.2 mm (2.1 in)	31.4 mm (1.2 in)	85	63 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-30	Mansfield (Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	64.4 mm (2.5 in)	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	46	63 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-30	Ivanhoe (Mt Manara)	Record daily precipitation	40.8 mm (1.6 in)	22.0 mm (0.9 in)	116	62 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-30	Finley Post Office	Record daily precipitation	31.4 mm (1.2 in)	21.5 mm (0.8 in)	89	61 of 100 (Major)
2020-04-30	Wentworth Post Office	Record daily precipitation	28.6 mm (1.1 in)	13.6 mm (0.5 in)	124	60 of 100 (Major)
2020-05-01	Beeac (Post Office)	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	23.6 mm (0.9 in)	94	78 of 100 (Major)
2020-05-01	Warrion	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	17.0 mm (0.7 in)	63	62 of 100 (Major)
2020-05-01	Kolora (Wooriwyrite)	Record daily precipitation	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	13.8 mm (0.5 in)	89	61 of 100 (Major)

The daily ledgers keep a limited number of records per day, so this list has 20 of the 833 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
24	94
36	85
56	78
28	60
29	89
24	94
17	98
18	111
14	98
28	80
31	85
38	46
22	116
17	63
17	82
22	89
87	49
14	89
16	117
14	124
14	102
19	107
44	63
14	82
12	102
31	52
20	89
40	52
25	63
16	124
39	46
14	111
17	57
28	57
32	25
13	124
27	46
15	107
25	66
35	33
20	64
19	80
55	32
19	124
12	78
15	94
16	94
10	102
26	66
16	94
17	85
23	50
23	89
9	89
29	11
35	47
21	78
11	124
12	124
21	85
27	66
26	66
18	68
18	63
44	32
8	107
22	49
9	107
49	25
24	25
6	130
20	20
18	85
9	124
1	99
11	124
23	52
6	127
15	57
24	60
24	57
16	57
20	52
11	124
13	38
19	60
31	16
7	107
23	16
13	52
9	78
10	124
25	52
28	33
7	102
9	87
9	78
25	20
8	82
16	46
12	78
13	120
19	78
21	65
7	124
6	107
36	46
33	16
17	60
9	94
7	80
5	117
4	117
4	117
6	124
30	13
5	117
10	56
8	78
3	117
3	98
10	89
6	120
10	89
16	65
4	117
17	49
51	4
23	33
5	94
20	11
21	60
9	80
12	78
6	94
8	89
3	102
3	107
7	76
3	126
4	111
25	46
9	78
21	34
17	47
36	4
20	66
5	94
10	60
3	107
16	25
5	61
2	117
2	111
21	47
23	52
4	94
20	54
25	37
13	49
23	46
13	49
26	13
21	14
11	73
6	89
5	80
10	57
7	87
17	47
13	62
1	124
13	49
16	47
12	66
3	91
6	85
3	90
1	98
0	117
13	63
24	11
22	11
12	65
16	57
14	57
4	94
18	52
2	94
6	78
3	89
0	117
22	52
32	33
19	37
15	46
1	94
0	98
14	38
16	11

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
24	94
36	85
56	78
28	60
29	89
24	94
17	98
18	111
14	98
28	80
31	85
38	46
22	116
17	63
17	82
22	89
87	49
14	89
16	117
14	124
14	102
19	107
44	63
14	82
12	102
31	52
20	89
40	52
25	63
16	124
39	46
14	111
17	57
28	57
32	25
13	124
27	46
15	107
25	66
35	33
20	64
19	80
55	32
19	124
12	78
15	94
16	94
10	102
26	66
16	94
17	85
23	50
23	89
9	89
29	11
35	47
21	78
11	124
12	124
21	85
27	66
26	66
18	68
18	63
44	32
8	107
22	49
9	107
49	25
24	25
6	130
20	20
18	85
9	124
1	99
11	124
23	52
6	127
15	57
24	60
24	57
16	57
20	52
11	124
13	38
19	60
31	16
7	107
23	16
13	52
9	78
10	124
25	52
28	33
7	102
9	87
9	78
25	20
8	82
16	46
12	78
13	120
19	78
21	65
7	124
6	107
36	46
33	16
17	60
9	94
7	80
5	117
4	117
4	117
6	124
30	13
5	117
10	56
8	78
3	117
3	98
10	89
6	120
10	89
16	65
4	117
17	49
51	4
23	33
5	94
20	11
21	60
9	80
12	78
6	94
8	89
3	102
3	107
7	76
3	126
4	111
25	46
9	78
21	34
17	47
36	4
20	66
5	94
10	60
3	107
16	25
5	61
2	117
2	111
21	47
23	52
4	94
20	54
25	37
13	49
23	46
13	49
26	13
21	14
11	73
6	89
5	80
10	57
7	87
17	47
13	62
1	124
13	49
16	47
12	66
3	91
6	85
3	90
1	98
0	117
13	63
24	11
22	11
12	65
16	57
14	57
4	94
18	52
2	94
6	78
3	89
0	117
22	52
32	33
19	37
15	46
1	94
0	98
14	38
16	11

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
24	94
36	85
56	78
28	60
29	89
24	94
17	98
18	111
14	98
28	80
31	85
38	46
22	116
17	63
17	82
22	89
87	49
14	89
16	117
14	124
14	102
19	107
44	63
14	82
12	102
31	52
20	89
40	52
25	63
16	124
39	46
14	111
17	57
28	57
32	25
13	124
27	46
15	107
25	66
35	33
20	64
19	80
55	32
19	124
12	78
15	94
16	94
10	102
26	66
16	94
17	85
23	50
23	89
9	89
29	11
35	47
21	78
11	124
12	124
21	85
27	66
26	66
18	68
18	63
44	32
8	107
22	49
9	107
49	25
24	25
6	130
20	20
18	85
9	124
1	99
11	124
23	52
6	127
15	57
24	60
24	57
16	57
20	52
11	124
13	38
19	60
31	16
7	107
23	16
13	52
9	78
10	124
25	52
28	33
7	102
9	87
9	78
25	20
8	82
16	46
12	78
13	120
19	78
21	65
7	124
6	107
36	46
33	16
17	60
9	94
7	80
5	117
4	117
4	117
6	124
30	13
5	117
10	56
8	78
3	117
3	98
10	89
6	120
10	89
16	65
4	117
17	49
51	4
23	33
5	94
20	11
21	60
9	80
12	78
6	94
8	89
3	102
3	107
7	76
3	126
4	111
25	46
9	78
21	34
17	47
36	4
20	66
5	94
10	60
3	107
16	25
5	61
2	117
2	111
21	47
23	52
4	94
20	54
25	37
13	49
23	46
13	49
26	13
21	14
11	73
6	89
5	80
10	57
7	87
17	47
13	62
1	124
13	49
16	47
12	66
3	91
6	85
3	90
1	98
0	117
13	63
24	11
22	11
12	65
16	57
14	57
4	94
18	52
2	94
6	78
3	89
0	117
22	52
32	33
19	37
15	46
1	94
0	98
14	38
16	11