Extreme rain in Australia, 8 to 13 December 2023

Name: Extreme rain in Australia, 8 to 13 December 2023
Start: 2023-12-08
End: 2023-12-13
Location: Australia

Extreme rain in Australia, 8 to 13 December 2023: 322 records at 223 stations, peak on 11 December 2023. Closed.

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

Key Facts

Extreme rain in Australia, 8 to 13 December 2023 set or tied 322 station records at 223 stations.
It ran from 8 December 2023 to 13 December 2023 (6 days) and its peak day was 11 December 2023.
Status: closed.
Woomera (South Gap Station) set a monthly record daily precipitation of 74.4 mm (2.9 in) on 11 December 2023.
The busiest day was 11 December 2023 with 142 records.
The oldest broken record in the ranked list had stood for 135 years.

Footprint

8 to 13 December 2023

The area covered by Extreme rain in Australia, 8 to 13 December 2023 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, 8 to 13 December 2023: stations that set records in the event
Station	Type	Value	Date
Woomera (South Gap Station)	Record daily precipitation	74.4 mm (2.9 in)	2023-12-11
Woomera (Oakden Hills)	Record daily precipitation	41.5 mm (1.6 in)	2023-12-10
Wharminda	Record daily precipitation	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	2023-12-11
Yudnapinna	Record daily precipitation	41.2 mm (1.6 in)	2023-12-11
Tumby Bay (Warratta Vale)	Record daily precipitation	38.0 mm (1.5 in)	2023-12-11
Nonning	Record daily precipitation	50.4 mm (2.0 in)	2023-12-10
Smoky Bay	Record daily precipitation	52.0 mm (2.0 in)	2023-12-11
Yallunda Flat (Meetigilly)	Record daily precipitation	40.4 mm (1.6 in)	2023-12-11
Cleve	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	2023-12-11
Iron Knob (Gilles Downs)	Record daily precipitation	48.3 mm (1.9 in)	2023-12-10
Kimba (Curtinye)	Record daily precipitation	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	2023-12-10
Kimba	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	2023-12-10
Strathalbyn	Record daily precipitation	49.6 mm (2.0 in)	2023-12-10
Gumeracha	Record daily precipitation	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	2023-12-12
Penong	Record daily precipitation	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	2023-12-11
Wirrulla	Record daily precipitation	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	2023-12-11
Mount Wudinna	Record daily precipitation	43.0 mm (1.7 in)	2023-12-10
Woomera (Mahanewo)	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	2023-12-11

Records per Day

Peak day 142

Records set or tied each day from 8 December 2023 to 13 December 2023. The most in one day was 142 on 11 December 2023.

Top Records by Margin

Margin over the record replaced

Top records of Extreme rain in Australia, 8 to 13 December 2023 ranked by margin
Smoky Bay, 12-11	41.3 mm (1.6 in)
Nonning, 12-10	39.7 mm (1.6 in)
Kimba (Curtinye), 12-10	39.3 mm (1.5 in)
Woomera (Oakden Hills), 12-10	37.9 mm (1.5 in)
Kimba, 12-10	37.6 mm (1.5 in)
Strathalbyn, 12-10	36.9 mm (1.5 in)
Wharminda, 12-10	35.7 mm (1.4 in)
Yudnapinna, 12-11	34.6 mm (1.4 in)
Wharminda, 12-11	34.5 mm (1.4 in)
Cleve, 12-10	33.8 mm (1.3 in)
Iron Knob (Gilles Downs), 12-10	32.3 mm (1.3 in)
Mount Wudinna, 12-10	31.6 mm (1.2 in)
Woomera (South Gap Station), 12-11	29.4 mm (1.2 in)
Wirrulla, 12-11	28.2 mm (1.1 in)
Penong, 12-11	26.0 mm (1.0 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

322 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, 8 to 13 December 2023
Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
29	99
38	130
35	131
35	105
25	120
40	68
41	68
25	85
25	85
32	68
34	52
39	52
38	52
36	52
21	131
37	52
26	68
28	68
32	52
23	112
31	68
20	85
31	52
36	34
28	38
48	52
34	52
30	37
51	52
14	44
14	105
20	85
40	24
11	130
17	1
48	25
33	38
13	120
45	38
36	18
39	28
34	32
20	52
30	38
19	85
14	85
13	85
9	120
9	130
9	120
20	52
22	18
17	68
10	116
20	52
8	130
23	52
6	77
27	52
27	30
17	33
21	52
12	85
8	120
17	52
32	37
8	135
20	68
9	30
15	30
19	52
45	8
7	100
28	18
9	135
19	52
7	114
22	29
7	116
5	120
21	52
30	37
5	120
21	18
31	12
14	52
31	12
9	85
13	68
6	57
4	105
4	120
14	52
16	52
29	46
11	29
24	41
21	29
5	130
19	52
18	52
15	52
16	53
13	68
28	12
4	116
3	116
19	32
25	0
23	49
10	68
3	57
20	30
3	112
16	52
26	18
23	8
16	52
2	114
1	120
1	120
17	52
16	37
0	104
1	97
14	34
8	12
21	29
0	116
5	85
0	130
20	18
8	68
12	52
16	52
4	85
15	52
7	64
17	18
18	30
11	52
18	38
9	52
9	52
17	32
9	52
11	52
25	12
6	68
2	85
9	52
15	32
14	52
18	18
18	30
23	8
23	18
24	25
17	40
8	52
11	52
14	40
16	32
11	52
14	37
5	68
16	29
13	30
18	18
9	52
16	18
10	52
15	37
2	68
18	18
6	38
12	30
7	33
10	38
14	12
6	52
2	68
3	64
12	34
15	30
5	52
5	52
12	17
16	18
11	32
10	52
10	32
3	70
11	18
1	33
10	14
19	9
14	24
6	56
9	32

Compared With Other Events

Station records per event

Station records in Extreme rain in Australia, 8 to 13 December 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, 8 to 13 December 2023 (this event)	322 records

Every Record Set

20 of 322

Every record set or tied during Extreme rain in Australia, 8 to 13 December 2023, in date order
Date	Station	Record	Value	Margin	Years stood	Significance
2023-12-10	Woomera (Oakden Hills)	Record daily precipitation	41.5 mm (1.6 in)	37.9 mm (1.5 in)	130	80 of 100 (Exceptional)
2023-12-10	Nonning	Record daily precipitation	50.4 mm (2.0 in)	39.7 mm (1.6 in)	68	70 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-10	Iron Knob (Gilles Downs)	Record daily precipitation	48.3 mm (1.9 in)	32.3 mm (1.3 in)	68	66 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-10	Cleve	Record daily precipitation	54.6 mm (2.1 in)	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	52	65 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-10	Kimba (Curtinye)	Record daily precipitation	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	39.3 mm (1.5 in)	52	65 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-10	Kimba	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	37.6 mm (1.5 in)	52	65 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-10	Wharminda	Record daily precipitation	55.8 mm (2.2 in)	35.7 mm (1.4 in)	52	65 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-10	Strathalbyn	Record daily precipitation	49.6 mm (2.0 in)	36.9 mm (1.5 in)	52	65 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-10	Mount Wudinna	Record daily precipitation	43.0 mm (1.7 in)	31.6 mm (1.2 in)	52	62 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-11	Woomera (South Gap Station)	Record daily precipitation	74.4 mm (2.9 in)	29.4 mm (1.2 in)	99	83 of 100 (Exceptional)
2023-12-11	Yudnapinna	Record daily precipitation	41.2 mm (1.6 in)	34.6 mm (1.4 in)	131	80 of 100 (Exceptional)
2023-12-11	Wharminda	Record daily precipitation	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	105	80 of 100 (Exceptional)
2023-12-11	Tumby Bay (Warratta Vale)	Record daily precipitation	38.0 mm (1.5 in)	24.8 mm (1.0 in)	120	72 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-11	Smoky Bay	Record daily precipitation	52.0 mm (2.0 in)	41.3 mm (1.6 in)	68	70 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-11	Yallunda Flat (Meetigilly)	Record daily precipitation	40.4 mm (1.6 in)	25.2 mm (1.0 in)	85	70 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-11	Cleve	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	85	68 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-11	Penong	Record daily precipitation	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	68	64 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-11	Wirrulla	Record daily precipitation	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	68	63 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-11	Woomera (Mahanewo)	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	22.6 mm (0.9 in)	112	61 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-12	Gumeracha	Record daily precipitation	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	20.9 mm (0.8 in)	131	65 of 100 (Major)

The daily ledgers keep a limited number of records per day, so this list has 20 of the 322 records the event counts. The counts above use the full total.

Related Headlines

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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
2023-12-08	1
2023-12-09	11
2023-12-10	137
2023-12-11	142
2023-12-12	29
2023-12-13	2

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
29	99
38	130
35	131
35	105
25	120
40	68
41	68
25	85
25	85
32	68
34	52
39	52
38	52
36	52
21	131
37	52
26	68
28	68
32	52
23	112
31	68
20	85
31	52
36	34
28	38
48	52
34	52
30	37
51	52
14	44
14	105
20	85
40	24
11	130
17	1
48	25
33	38
13	120
45	38
36	18
39	28
34	32
20	52
30	38
19	85
14	85
13	85
9	120
9	130
9	120
20	52
22	18
17	68
10	116
20	52
8	130
23	52
6	77
27	52
27	30
17	33
21	52
12	85
8	120
17	52
32	37
8	135
20	68
9	30
15	30
19	52
45	8
7	100
28	18
9	135
19	52
7	114
22	29
7	116
5	120
21	52
30	37
5	120
21	18
31	12
14	52
31	12
9	85
13	68
6	57
4	105
4	120
14	52
16	52
29	46
11	29
24	41
21	29
5	130
19	52
18	52
15	52
16	53
13	68
28	12
4	116
3	116
19	32
25	0
23	49
10	68
3	57
20	30
3	112
16	52
26	18
23	8
16	52
2	114
1	120
1	120
17	52
16	37
0	104
1	97
14	34
8	12
21	29
0	116
5	85
0	130
20	18
8	68
12	52
16	52
4	85
15	52
7	64
17	18
18	30
11	52
18	38
9	52
9	52
17	32
9	52
11	52
25	12
6	68
2	85
9	52
15	32
14	52
18	18
18	30
23	8
23	18
24	25
17	40
8	52
11	52
14	40
16	32
11	52
14	37
5	68
16	29
13	30
18	18
9	52
16	18
10	52
15	37
2	68
18	18
6	38
12	30
7	33
10	38
14	12
6	52
2	68
3	64
12	34
15	30
5	52
5	52
12	17
16	18
11	32
10	52
10	32
3	70
11	18
1	33
10	14
19	9
14	24
6	56
9	32

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
29	99
38	130
35	131
35	105
25	120
40	68
41	68
25	85
25	85
32	68
34	52
39	52
38	52
36	52
21	131
37	52
26	68
28	68
32	52
23	112
31	68
20	85
31	52
36	34
28	38
48	52
34	52
30	37
51	52
14	44
14	105
20	85
40	24
11	130
17	1
48	25
33	38
13	120
45	38
36	18
39	28
34	32
20	52
30	38
19	85
14	85
13	85
9	120
9	130
9	120
20	52
22	18
17	68
10	116
20	52
8	130
23	52
6	77
27	52
27	30
17	33
21	52
12	85
8	120
17	52
32	37
8	135
20	68
9	30
15	30
19	52
45	8
7	100
28	18
9	135
19	52
7	114
22	29
7	116
5	120
21	52
30	37
5	120
21	18
31	12
14	52
31	12
9	85
13	68
6	57
4	105
4	120
14	52
16	52
29	46
11	29
24	41
21	29
5	130
19	52
18	52
15	52
16	53
13	68
28	12
4	116
3	116
19	32
25	0
23	49
10	68
3	57
20	30
3	112
16	52
26	18
23	8
16	52
2	114
1	120
1	120
17	52
16	37
0	104
1	97
14	34
8	12
21	29
0	116
5	85
0	130
20	18
8	68
12	52
16	52
4	85
15	52
7	64
17	18
18	30
11	52
18	38
9	52
9	52
17	32
9	52
11	52
25	12
6	68
2	85
9	52
15	32
14	52
18	18
18	30
23	8
23	18
24	25
17	40
8	52
11	52
14	40
16	32
11	52
14	37
5	68
16	29
13	30
18	18
9	52
16	18
10	52
15	37
2	68
18	18
6	38
12	30
7	33
10	38
14	12
6	52
2	68
3	64
12	34
15	30
5	52
5	52
12	17
16	18
11	32
10	52
10	32
3	70
11	18
1	33
10	14
19	9
14	24
6	56
9	32

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
29	99
38	130
35	131
35	105
25	120
40	68
41	68
25	85
25	85
32	68
34	52
39	52
38	52
36	52
21	131
37	52
26	68
28	68
32	52
23	112
31	68
20	85
31	52
36	34
28	38
48	52
34	52
30	37
51	52
14	44
14	105
20	85
40	24
11	130
17	1
48	25
33	38
13	120
45	38
36	18
39	28
34	32
20	52
30	38
19	85
14	85
13	85
9	120
9	130
9	120
20	52
22	18
17	68
10	116
20	52
8	130
23	52
6	77
27	52
27	30
17	33
21	52
12	85
8	120
17	52
32	37
8	135
20	68
9	30
15	30
19	52
45	8
7	100
28	18
9	135
19	52
7	114
22	29
7	116
5	120
21	52
30	37
5	120
21	18
31	12
14	52
31	12
9	85
13	68
6	57
4	105
4	120
14	52
16	52
29	46
11	29
24	41
21	29
5	130
19	52
18	52
15	52
16	53
13	68
28	12
4	116
3	116
19	32
25	0
23	49
10	68
3	57
20	30
3	112
16	52
26	18
23	8
16	52
2	114
1	120
1	120
17	52
16	37
0	104
1	97
14	34
8	12
21	29
0	116
5	85
0	130
20	18
8	68
12	52
16	52
4	85
15	52
7	64
17	18
18	30
11	52
18	38
9	52
9	52
17	32
9	52
11	52
25	12
6	68
2	85
9	52
15	32
14	52
18	18
18	30
23	8
23	18
24	25
17	40
8	52
11	52
14	40
16	32
11	52
14	37
5	68
16	29
13	30
18	18
9	52
16	18
10	52
15	37
2	68
18	18
6	38
12	30
7	33
10	38
14	12
6	52
2	68
3	64
12	34
15	30
5	52
5	52
12	17
16	18
11	32
10	52
10	32
3	70
11	18
1	33
10	14
19	9
14	24
6	56
9	32