Extreme rain in Australia, 18 to 27 May 2022

Name: Extreme rain in Australia, 18 to 27 May 2022
Start: 2022-05-18
End: 2022-05-27
Location: Australia

Extreme rain in Australia, 18 to 27 May 2022: 135 records at 106 stations, peak on 21 May 2022. Closed.

Data as of 2026-10-12. Last revised 12 October 2026 (2026-10-12).

Key Facts

Extreme rain in Australia, 18 to 27 May 2022 set or tied 135 station records at 106 stations.
It ran from 18 May 2022 to 27 May 2022 (10 days) and its peak day was 21 May 2022.
Status: closed.
Randwick Bowling Club set a daily record precipitation of 71.8 mm (2.8 in) on 24 May 2022.
The busiest day was 21 May 2022 with 38 records.
The oldest broken record in the ranked list had stood for 129 years.

Footprint

18 to 27 May 2022

The area covered by Extreme rain in Australia, 18 to 27 May 2022 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, 18 to 27 May 2022: stations that set records in the event
Station	Type	Value	Date
Randwick Bowling Club	Record daily precipitation	71.8 mm (2.8 in)	2022-05-24
Lady Elliot Island	Record daily precipitation	70.0 mm (2.8 in)	2022-05-22
Rainbow Beach	Record daily precipitation	155.2 mm (6.1 in)	2022-05-18
Nimbin Post Office	Record daily precipitation	82.5 mm (3.2 in)	2022-05-23
South West Rocks (Smoky Cape L	Record daily precipitation	110.0 mm (4.3 in)	2022-05-26
Monto Township	Record daily precipitation	43.0 mm (1.7 in)	2022-05-21
Fraser Island Eurong	Record daily precipitation	92.8 mm (3.7 in)	2022-05-25
Yamba Pilot Station	Record daily precipitation	61.6 mm (2.4 in)	2022-05-24
Marrickville Golf Club	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	2022-05-24
Minmore	Record daily precipitation	38.0 mm (1.5 in)	2022-05-21
Gladstone Radar	Record daily precipitation	53.2 mm (2.1 in)	2022-05-21
Collaroy (Long Reef Golf Club)	Record daily precipitation	59.2 mm (2.3 in)	2022-05-24
Mt Tamborine Fern St	Record daily precipitation	58.0 mm (2.3 in)	2022-05-22
Coombabah Water Treatment Plan	Record daily precipitation	82.2 mm (3.2 in)	2022-05-22
Elanora Water Treatment Plant	Record daily precipitation	72.6 mm (2.9 in)	2022-05-22
Mount Joseph	Record daily precipitation	28.8 mm (1.1 in)	2022-05-18
Kingscliff (Marine Parade)	Record daily precipitation	90.6 mm (3.6 in)	2022-05-23
Rose Bay (Royal Sydney Golf Cl	Record daily precipitation	39.0 mm (1.5 in)	2022-05-24

Records per Day

Peak day 38

Records set or tied each day from 18 May 2022 to 27 May 2022. The most in one day was 38 on 21 May 2022.

Top Records by Margin

Margin over the record replaced

Top records of Extreme rain in Australia, 18 to 27 May 2022 ranked by margin
Rainbow Beach, 05-18	141.6 mm (5.6 in)
Fraser Island Eurong, 05-25	61.3 mm (2.4 in)
Coombabah Water Treatment Plan, 05-22	59.2 mm (2.3 in)
South West Rocks (Smoky Cape L, 05-26	51.6 mm (2.0 in)
Elanora Water Treatment Plant, 05-22	49.6 mm (2.0 in)
Kingscliff (Marine Parade), 05-24	42.7 mm (1.7 in)
Lady Elliot Island, 05-22	39.5 mm (1.6 in)
Gladstone Radar, 05-21	37.8 mm (1.5 in)
Kingscliff (Marine Parade), 05-23	37.6 mm (1.5 in)
Randwick Bowling Club, 05-24	37.0 mm (1.5 in)
Lady Elliot Island, 05-24	33.6 mm (1.3 in)
Collaroy (Long Reef Golf Club), 05-24	31.8 mm (1.3 in)
Nimbin Post Office, 05-23	31.2 mm (1.2 in)
Minmore, 05-21	22.3 mm (0.9 in)
Yamba Pilot Station, 05-24	19.4 mm (0.8 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

135 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, 18 to 27 May 2022
Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
37	129
40	75
142	25
31	84
52	49
17	84
61	25
19	84
9	109
22	51
38	40
32	55
2	121
59	20
50	32
34	24
11	67
38	40
10	79
43	27
1	84
6	72
40	27
25	41
25	27
18	0
18	40
19	69
3	67
32	33
28	48
2	77
16	40
5	63
2	72
19	40
2	72
26	27
45	9
5	72
1	72
13	40
22	27
12	39
11	40
3	51
15	39
4	63
7	39
13	36
11	27
15	39
17	27
4	40
23	21
8	39
10	39
25	21
7	45
8	27
3	47
7	47
2	33
6	39
18	12
10	40
0	52
5	27
3	33
14	27
3	27
3	40
1	48
17	25
3	27
3	27
12	12
3	27
13	27
1	40
14	23
13	15
10	20
0	32
1	40
4	32
7	27
24	12
9	27
1	27
7	27
3	27
7	23
13	21
3	40
20	1
5	32
7	24
10	28
2	27
12	21
5	32
5	31
6	28
4	27
8	12
15	12
11	1
13	8
11	8
10	1
4	23
1	27
5	27
2	16
15	1
4	9
4	23
1	23
4	11
6	8
11	8
4	8
3	12
3	7
7	8
1	12
1	17
2	12
2	8
5	0
3	11
4	8
1	12
3	1

Compared With Other Events

Station records per event

Station records in Extreme rain in Australia, 18 to 27 May 2022 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, 18 to 27 May 2022 (this event)	135 records

Every Record Set

20 of 135

Every record set or tied during Extreme rain in Australia, 18 to 27 May 2022, in date order
Date	Station	Record	Value	Margin	Years stood	Significance
2022-05-18	Rainbow Beach	Record daily precipitation	155.2 mm (6.1 in)	141.6 mm (5.6 in)	25	50 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-18	Mount Joseph	Record daily precipitation	28.8 mm (1.1 in)	11.0 mm (0.4 in)	67	38 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-21	Monto Township	Record daily precipitation	43.0 mm (1.7 in)	16.6 mm (0.7 in)	84	48 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-21	Minmore	Record daily precipitation	38.0 mm (1.5 in)	22.3 mm (0.9 in)	51	42 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-21	Gladstone Radar	Record daily precipitation	53.2 mm (2.1 in)	37.8 mm (1.5 in)	40	41 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-22	Lady Elliot Island	Record daily precipitation	70.0 mm (2.8 in)	39.5 mm (1.6 in)	75	57 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-22	Mt Tamborine Fern St	Record daily precipitation	58.0 mm (2.3 in)	2.4 mm (0.09 in)	121	40 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-22	Coombabah Water Treatment Plan	Record daily precipitation	82.2 mm (3.2 in)	59.2 mm (2.3 in)	20	40 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-22	Elanora Water Treatment Plant	Record daily precipitation	72.6 mm (2.9 in)	49.6 mm (2.0 in)	32	39 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-23	Nimbin Post Office	Record daily precipitation	82.5 mm (3.2 in)	31.2 mm (1.2 in)	84	50 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-23	Kingscliff (Marine Parade)	Record daily precipitation	90.6 mm (3.6 in)	37.6 mm (1.5 in)	40	38 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-24	Randwick Bowling Club	Record daily precipitation	71.8 mm (2.8 in)	37.0 mm (1.5 in)	129	61 of 100 (Major)
2022-05-24	Yamba Pilot Station	Record daily precipitation	61.6 mm (2.4 in)	19.4 mm (0.8 in)	84	45 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-24	Marrickville Golf Club	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	9.4 mm (0.37 in)	109	45 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-24	Collaroy (Long Reef Golf Club)	Record daily precipitation	59.2 mm (2.3 in)	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	55	41 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-24	Lady Elliot Island	Record daily precipitation	91.0 mm (3.6 in)	33.6 mm (1.3 in)	24	38 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-24	Rose Bay (Royal Sydney Golf Cl	Record daily precipitation	39.0 mm (1.5 in)	9.5 mm (0.37 in)	79	38 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-24	Kingscliff (Marine Parade)	Record daily precipitation	67.2 mm (2.6 in)	42.7 mm (1.7 in)	27	37 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-25	Fraser Island Eurong	Record daily precipitation	92.8 mm (3.7 in)	61.3 mm (2.4 in)	25	46 of 100 (Notable)
2022-05-26	South West Rocks (Smoky Cape L	Record daily precipitation	110.0 mm (4.3 in)	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	49	49 of 100 (Notable)

The daily ledgers keep a limited number of records per day, so this list has 20 of the 135 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 2026-10-12. Events are found by this site from station records and are not official designations. Records are provisional until reprocessed.

Date	Records
2022-05-18	7
2022-05-19	1
2022-05-20	5
2022-05-21	38
2022-05-22	34
2022-05-23	7
2022-05-24	20
2022-05-25	17
2022-05-26	5
2022-05-27	1

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
37	129
40	75
142	25
31	84
52	49
17	84
61	25
19	84
9	109
22	51
38	40
32	55
2	121
59	20
50	32
34	24
11	67
38	40
10	79
43	27
1	84
6	72
40	27
25	41
25	27
18	0
18	40
19	69
3	67
32	33
28	48
2	77
16	40
5	63
2	72
19	40
2	72
26	27
45	9
5	72
1	72
13	40
22	27
12	39
11	40
3	51
15	39
4	63
7	39
13	36
11	27
15	39
17	27
4	40
23	21
8	39
10	39
25	21
7	45
8	27
3	47
7	47
2	33
6	39
18	12
10	40
0	52
5	27
3	33
14	27
3	27
3	40
1	48
17	25
3	27
3	27
12	12
3	27
13	27
1	40
14	23
13	15
10	20
0	32
1	40
4	32
7	27
24	12
9	27
1	27
7	27
3	27
7	23
13	21
3	40
20	1
5	32
7	24
10	28
2	27
12	21
5	32
5	31
6	28
4	27
8	12
15	12
11	1
13	8
11	8
10	1
4	23
1	27
5	27
2	16
15	1
4	9
4	23
1	23
4	11
6	8
11	8
4	8
3	12
3	7
7	8
1	12
1	17
2	12
2	8
5	0
3	11
4	8
1	12
3	1

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
37	129
40	75
142	25
31	84
52	49
17	84
61	25
19	84
9	109
22	51
38	40
32	55
2	121
59	20
50	32
34	24
11	67
38	40
10	79
43	27
1	84
6	72
40	27
25	41
25	27
18	0
18	40
19	69
3	67
32	33
28	48
2	77
16	40
5	63
2	72
19	40
2	72
26	27
45	9
5	72
1	72
13	40
22	27
12	39
11	40
3	51
15	39
4	63
7	39
13	36
11	27
15	39
17	27
4	40
23	21
8	39
10	39
25	21
7	45
8	27
3	47
7	47
2	33
6	39
18	12
10	40
0	52
5	27
3	33
14	27
3	27
3	40
1	48
17	25
3	27
3	27
12	12
3	27
13	27
1	40
14	23
13	15
10	20
0	32
1	40
4	32
7	27
24	12
9	27
1	27
7	27
3	27
7	23
13	21
3	40
20	1
5	32
7	24
10	28
2	27
12	21
5	32
5	31
6	28
4	27
8	12
15	12
11	1
13	8
11	8
10	1
4	23
1	27
5	27
2	16
15	1
4	9
4	23
1	23
4	11
6	8
11	8
4	8
3	12
3	7
7	8
1	12
1	17
2	12
2	8
5	0
3	11
4	8
1	12
3	1

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
37	129
40	75
142	25
31	84
52	49
17	84
61	25
19	84
9	109
22	51
38	40
32	55
2	121
59	20
50	32
34	24
11	67
38	40
10	79
43	27
1	84
6	72
40	27
25	41
25	27
18	0
18	40
19	69
3	67
32	33
28	48
2	77
16	40
5	63
2	72
19	40
2	72
26	27
45	9
5	72
1	72
13	40
22	27
12	39
11	40
3	51
15	39
4	63
7	39
13	36
11	27
15	39
17	27
4	40
23	21
8	39
10	39
25	21
7	45
8	27
3	47
7	47
2	33
6	39
18	12
10	40
0	52
5	27
3	33
14	27
3	27
3	40
1	48
17	25
3	27
3	27
12	12
3	27
13	27
1	40
14	23
13	15
10	20
0	32
1	40
4	32
7	27
24	12
9	27
1	27
7	27
3	27
7	23
13	21
3	40
20	1
5	32
7	24
10	28
2	27
12	21
5	32
5	31
6	28
4	27
8	12
15	12
11	1
13	8
11	8
10	1
4	23
1	27
5	27
2	16
15	1
4	9
4	23
1	23
4	11
6	8
11	8
4	8
3	12
3	7
7	8
1	12
1	17
2	12
2	8
5	0
3	11
4	8
1	12
3	1