Extreme rain in Australia, 17 to 27 April 2021

Name: Extreme rain in Australia, 17 to 27 April 2021
Start: 2021-04-17
End: 2021-04-27
Location: Australia

Extreme rain in Australia, 17 to 27 April 2021: 125 records at 79 stations, peak on 21 April 2021. Closed.

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

Key Facts

Extreme rain in Australia, 17 to 27 April 2021 set or tied 125 station records at 79 stations.
It ran from 17 April 2021 to 27 April 2021 (11 days) and its peak day was 21 April 2021.
Status: closed.
Croydon Township set a daily record precipitation of 92.2 mm (3.6 in) on 22 April 2021.
The busiest day was 21 April 2021 with 31 records.
The oldest broken record in the ranked list had stood for 131 years.

Footprint

17 to 27 April 2021

The area covered by Extreme rain in Australia, 17 to 27 April 2021 is outlined, with 18 of the stations that set records marked, coloured by record type. Made with Natural Earth.

Footprint of Extreme rain in Australia, 17 to 27 April 2021: stations that set records in the event
Station	Type	Value	Date
Croydon Township	Record daily precipitation	92.2 mm (3.6 in)	2021-04-22
Carpentaria Downs Station	Record daily precipitation	75.6 mm (3.0 in)	2021-04-21
Mulgrave Mill	Record daily precipitation	180.0 mm (7.1 in)	2021-04-19
Port Douglas - Warner St	Record daily precipitation	167.0 mm (6.6 in)	2021-04-22
Bemerside	Record daily precipitation	333.2 mm (13.1 in)	2021-04-21
Pinnacle	Record daily precipitation	134.0 mm (5.3 in)	2021-04-23
Miranda Downs Station	Record daily precipitation	145.0 mm (5.7 in)	2021-04-22
Petford	Record daily precipitation	83.6 mm (3.3 in)	2021-04-23
Upper Stone Exelby	Record daily precipitation	146.0 mm (5.7 in)	2021-04-21
Mossman Central Mill	Record daily precipitation	175.0 mm (6.9 in)	2021-04-19
Mount Surprise Township	Record daily precipitation	38.2 mm (1.5 in)	2021-04-23
Meringa Sugar Exp STN	Record daily precipitation	189.0 mm (7.4 in)	2021-04-27
Green Hills	Record daily precipitation	136.4 mm (5.4 in)	2021-04-22
Cairns Aero	Record daily precipitation	159.2 mm (6.3 in)	2021-04-19
Evelyn State Forest	Record daily precipitation	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	2021-04-20
Low Holm Station	Record daily precipitation	71.8 mm (2.8 in)	2021-04-21
Ingham Composite	Record daily precipitation	245.0 mm (9.6 in)	2021-04-21
Glendower Station	Record daily precipitation	59.0 mm (2.3 in)	2021-04-21

Records per Day

Peak day 31

Records set or tied each day from 17 April 2021 to 27 April 2021. The most in one day was 31 on 21 April 2021.

Records per day during Extreme rain in Australia, 17 to 27 April 2021
Date	Records
2021-04-17	2
2021-04-18	1
2021-04-19	9
2021-04-20	15
2021-04-21	31
2021-04-22	24
2021-04-23	18
2021-04-24	9
2021-04-25	8
2021-04-26	7
2021-04-27	1

Top Records by Margin

Margin over the record replaced

Top records of Extreme rain in Australia, 17 to 27 April 2021 ranked by margin
Ingham Composite, 04-21	205.0 mm (8.1 in)
Upper Stone Exelby, 04-21	128.0 mm (5.0 in)
Meringa Sugar Exp STN, 04-19	122.0 mm (4.8 in)
Bemerside, 04-21	120.4 mm (4.7 in)
Cairns Aero, 04-19	111.4 mm (4.4 in)
Meringa Sugar Exp STN, 04-27	111.0 mm (4.4 in)
Mulgrave Mill, 04-19	93.9 mm (3.7 in)
Croydon Township, 04-22	87.1 mm (3.4 in)
Upper Stone Exelby, 04-22	82.4 mm (3.2 in)
Port Douglas - Warner St, 04-22	77.1 mm (3.0 in)
Mossman Central Mill, 04-19	67.6 mm (2.7 in)
Carpentaria Downs Station, 04-21	67.0 mm (2.6 in)
Miranda Downs Station, 04-22	67.0 mm (2.6 in)
Petford, 04-23	56.9 mm (2.2 in)
Glendower Station, 04-21	53.9 mm (2.1 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

125 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, 17 to 27 April 2021
Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
87	131
67	107
94	88
77	100
120	32
50	40
67	11
57	52
128	47
68	88
33	87
49	21
111	38
82	36
111	31
22	87
122	31
37	47
205	31
54	50
32	38
50	44
19	104
35	124
65	20
33	99
98	37
39	60
23	100
138	32
32	88
52	36
27	102
32	36
145	6
81	31
67	47
97	11
68	32
28	67
7	103
2	102
107	18
1	103
53	32
35	32
18	37
50	7
23	67
27	24
43	18
21	23
1	58
37	32
23	56
15	40
11	46
41	36
49	47
19	36
20	36
26	32
8	64
18	32
3	63
12	47
42	18
7	55
57	18
25	40
12	40
2	56
19	16
8	40
15	36
1	56
20	22
12	50
19	31
6	55
10	32
0	59
21	34
13	23
11	36
14	36
36	18
40	7
31	16
43	6
10	36
22	24
27	18
20	22
11	18
18	32
8	50
5	40
18	23
16	20
38	7
10	34
1	46
12	20
8	23
8	32
7	23
1	40
13	32
6	32
8	40
25	32
22	20
1	31
25	0
2	36
5	18
16	11
2	22
14	18
4	15
1	20
1	18
5	15
5	16

Compared With Other Events

Station records per event

Station records in Extreme rain in Australia, 17 to 27 April 2021 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, 17 to 27 April 2021 (this event)	125 records

Every Record Set

20 of 125

Every record set or tied during Extreme rain in Australia, 17 to 27 April 2021, in date order
Date	Station	Record	Value	Margin	Years stood	Significance
2021-04-19	Mulgrave Mill	Record daily precipitation	180.0 mm (7.1 in)	93.9 mm (3.7 in)	88	71 of 100 (Major)
2021-04-19	Mossman Central Mill	Record daily precipitation	175.0 mm (6.9 in)	67.6 mm (2.7 in)	88	61 of 100 (Major)
2021-04-19	Cairns Aero	Record daily precipitation	159.2 mm (6.3 in)	111.4 mm (4.4 in)	31	57 of 100 (Notable)
2021-04-19	Meringa Sugar Exp STN	Record daily precipitation	228.0 mm (9.0 in)	122.0 mm (4.8 in)	31	57 of 100 (Notable)
2021-04-20	Evelyn State Forest	Record daily precipitation	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	22.4 mm (0.9 in)	87	57 of 100 (Notable)
2021-04-21	Carpentaria Downs Station	Record daily precipitation	75.6 mm (3.0 in)	67.0 mm (2.6 in)	107	79 of 100 (Major)
2021-04-21	Bemerside	Record daily precipitation	333.2 mm (13.1 in)	120.4 mm (4.7 in)	32	68 of 100 (Major)
2021-04-21	Upper Stone Exelby	Record daily precipitation	146.0 mm (5.7 in)	128.0 mm (5.0 in)	47	62 of 100 (Major)
2021-04-21	Low Holm Station	Record daily precipitation	71.8 mm (2.8 in)	37.2 mm (1.5 in)	47	55 of 100 (Notable)
2021-04-21	Ingham Composite	Record daily precipitation	245.0 mm (9.6 in)	205.0 mm (8.1 in)	31	54 of 100 (Notable)
2021-04-21	Glendower Station	Record daily precipitation	59.0 mm (2.3 in)	53.9 mm (2.1 in)	50	52 of 100 (Notable)
2021-04-22	Croydon Township	Record daily precipitation	92.2 mm (3.6 in)	87.1 mm (3.4 in)	131	80 of 100 (Exceptional)
2021-04-22	Port Douglas - Warner St	Record daily precipitation	167.0 mm (6.6 in)	77.1 mm (3.0 in)	100	69 of 100 (Major)
2021-04-22	Miranda Downs Station	Record daily precipitation	145.0 mm (5.7 in)	67.0 mm (2.6 in)	11	63 of 100 (Major)
2021-04-22	Green Hills	Record daily precipitation	136.4 mm (5.4 in)	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	21	59 of 100 (Notable)
2021-04-22	Upper Stone Exelby	Record daily precipitation	126.2 mm (5.0 in)	82.4 mm (3.2 in)	36	58 of 100 (Notable)
2021-04-23	Pinnacle	Record daily precipitation	134.0 mm (5.3 in)	49.6 mm (2.0 in)	40	64 of 100 (Major)
2021-04-23	Petford	Record daily precipitation	83.6 mm (3.3 in)	56.9 mm (2.2 in)	52	63 of 100 (Major)
2021-04-23	Mount Surprise Township	Record daily precipitation	38.2 mm (1.5 in)	33.4 mm (1.3 in)	87	60 of 100 (Major)
2021-04-27	Meringa Sugar Exp STN	Record daily precipitation	189.0 mm (7.4 in)	111.0 mm (4.4 in)	38	59 of 100 (Notable)

The daily ledgers keep a limited number of records per day, so this list has 20 of the 125 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
87	131
67	107
94	88
77	100
120	32
50	40
67	11
57	52
128	47
68	88
33	87
49	21
111	38
82	36
111	31
22	87
122	31
37	47
205	31
54	50
32	38
50	44
19	104
35	124
65	20
33	99
98	37
39	60
23	100
138	32
32	88
52	36
27	102
32	36
145	6
81	31
67	47
97	11
68	32
28	67
7	103
2	102
107	18
1	103
53	32
35	32
18	37
50	7
23	67
27	24
43	18
21	23
1	58
37	32
23	56
15	40
11	46
41	36
49	47
19	36
20	36
26	32
8	64
18	32
3	63
12	47
42	18
7	55
57	18
25	40
12	40
2	56
19	16
8	40
15	36
1	56
20	22
12	50
19	31
6	55
10	32
0	59
21	34
13	23
11	36
14	36
36	18
40	7
31	16
43	6
10	36
22	24
27	18
20	22
11	18
18	32
8	50
5	40
18	23
16	20
38	7
10	34
1	46
12	20
8	23
8	32
7	23
1	40
13	32
6	32
8	40
25	32
22	20
1	31
25	0
2	36
5	18
16	11
2	22
14	18
4	15
1	20
1	18
5	15
5	16

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
87	131
67	107
94	88
77	100
120	32
50	40
67	11
57	52
128	47
68	88
33	87
49	21
111	38
82	36
111	31
22	87
122	31
37	47
205	31
54	50
32	38
50	44
19	104
35	124
65	20
33	99
98	37
39	60
23	100
138	32
32	88
52	36
27	102
32	36
145	6
81	31
67	47
97	11
68	32
28	67
7	103
2	102
107	18
1	103
53	32
35	32
18	37
50	7
23	67
27	24
43	18
21	23
1	58
37	32
23	56
15	40
11	46
41	36
49	47
19	36
20	36
26	32
8	64
18	32
3	63
12	47
42	18
7	55
57	18
25	40
12	40
2	56
19	16
8	40
15	36
1	56
20	22
12	50
19	31
6	55
10	32
0	59
21	34
13	23
11	36
14	36
36	18
40	7
31	16
43	6
10	36
22	24
27	18
20	22
11	18
18	32
8	50
5	40
18	23
16	20
38	7
10	34
1	46
12	20
8	23
8	32
7	23
1	40
13	32
6	32
8	40
25	32
22	20
1	31
25	0
2	36
5	18
16	11
2	22
14	18
4	15
1	20
1	18
5	15
5	16

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
87	131
67	107
94	88
77	100
120	32
50	40
67	11
57	52
128	47
68	88
33	87
49	21
111	38
82	36
111	31
22	87
122	31
37	47
205	31
54	50
32	38
50	44
19	104
35	124
65	20
33	99
98	37
39	60
23	100
138	32
32	88
52	36
27	102
32	36
145	6
81	31
67	47
97	11
68	32
28	67
7	103
2	102
107	18
1	103
53	32
35	32
18	37
50	7
23	67
27	24
43	18
21	23
1	58
37	32
23	56
15	40
11	46
41	36
49	47
19	36
20	36
26	32
8	64
18	32
3	63
12	47
42	18
7	55
57	18
25	40
12	40
2	56
19	16
8	40
15	36
1	56
20	22
12	50
19	31
6	55
10	32
0	59
21	34
13	23
11	36
14	36
36	18
40	7
31	16
43	6
10	36
22	24
27	18
20	22
11	18
18	32
8	50
5	40
18	23
16	20
38	7
10	34
1	46
12	20
8	23
8	32
7	23
1	40
13	32
6	32
8	40
25	32
22	20
1	31
25	0
2	36
5	18
16	11
2	22
14	18
4	15
1	20
1	18
5	15
5	16