Extreme rain in Australia, 12 to 19 December 2023

Name: Extreme rain in Australia, 12 to 19 December 2023
Start: 2023-12-12
End: 2023-12-19
Location: Australia

Extreme rain in Australia, 12 to 19 December 2023: 116 records at 44 stations, peak on 17 December 2023. Closed.

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

Key Facts

Extreme rain in Australia, 12 to 19 December 2023 set or tied 116 station records at 44 stations.
It ran from 12 December 2023 to 19 December 2023 (8 days) and its peak day was 17 December 2023.
Status: closed.
Mulgrave Mill set an all-time record daily precipitation of 458.0 mm (18.0 in) on 17 December 2023.
The busiest day was 17 December 2023 with 34 records.
The oldest broken record in the ranked list had stood for 116 years.

Footprint

12 to 19 December 2023

The area covered by Extreme rain in Australia, 12 to 19 December 2023 is outlined, with 12 of the stations that set records marked, coloured by record type. Made with Natural Earth.

Footprint of Extreme rain in Australia, 12 to 19 December 2023: stations that set records in the event
Station	Type	Value	Date
Mulgrave Mill	Record daily precipitation	458.0 mm (18.0 in)	2023-12-17
Kuranda Railway Station	Record daily precipitation	229.0 mm (9.0 in)	2023-12-15
Mossman South Alchera Drive	Record daily precipitation	429.0 mm (16.9 in)	2023-12-14
Cairns Post Office	Record daily precipitation	268.5 mm (10.6 in)	2023-12-16
Cape Tribulation Store	Record daily precipitation	861.2 mm (33.9 in)	2023-12-18
Tinaroo Falls Dam	Record daily precipitation	136.0 mm (5.4 in)	2023-12-18
Babinda Post Office	Record daily precipitation	341.0 mm (13.4 in)	2023-12-17
White Cliff Point	Record daily precipitation	512.0 mm (20.2 in)	2023-12-17
Whyanbeel Valley	Record daily precipitation	208.2 mm (8.2 in)	2023-12-16
Mount Olive	Record daily precipitation	200.0 mm (7.9 in)	2023-12-17
Walkamin Research Station	Record daily precipitation	155.0 mm (6.1 in)	2023-12-15
South Johnstone Exp STN	Record daily precipitation	295.6 mm (11.6 in)	2023-12-17

Records per Day

Peak day 34

Records set or tied each day from 12 December 2023 to 19 December 2023. The most in one day was 34 on 17 December 2023.

Top Records by Margin

Margin over the record replaced

Top records of Extreme rain in Australia, 12 to 19 December 2023 ranked by margin
Cape Tribulation Store, 12-18	288.8 mm (11.4 in)
Kuranda Railway Station, 12-14	206.0 mm (8.1 in)
South Johnstone Exp STN, 12-17	181.2 mm (7.1 in)
Mossman South Alchera Drive, 12-14	176.0 mm (6.9 in)
Kuranda Railway Station, 12-15	168.0 mm (6.6 in)
White Cliff Point, 12-17	162.8 mm (6.4 in)
Babinda Post Office, 12-17	154.3 mm (6.1 in)
Mount Olive, 12-17	143.0 mm (5.6 in)
Mulgrave Mill, 12-17	130.1 mm (5.1 in)
Cairns Post Office, 12-13	122.7 mm (4.8 in)
Whyanbeel Valley, 12-16	95.4 mm (3.8 in)
Walkamin Research Station, 12-15	93.8 mm (3.7 in)
Mossman South Alchera Drive, 12-15	86.9 mm (3.4 in)
Mulgrave Mill, 12-16	85.3 mm (3.4 in)
Tinaroo Falls Dam, 12-18	81.4 mm (3.2 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

116 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, 12 to 19 December 2023
Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
130	88
168	98
176	59
206	48
64	90
85	105
81	105
87	80
289	0
81	66
154	80
72	57
163	5
72	19
95	78
143	46
123	34
94	52
76	50
181	33
206	4
162	41
141	33
124	15
35	59
144	33
64	46
104	4
58	27
134	34
157	34
132	33
67	25
47	80
65	24
33	98
137	12
143	21
75	34
54	66
50	33
378	22
38	50
76	25
16	98
187	14
20	116
64	33
49	56
121	34
15	106
46	26
6	108
6	105
6	72
51	50
37	49
14	96
78	46
42	70
46	21
60	0
25	80
39	50
71	40
49	22
112	20
47	40
76	29
50	34
33	13
36	40
38	49
44	33
34	49
60	33
10	80
40	23
39	33
3	80
11	57
63	4
36	30
58	2
49	33
15	19
51	0
31	33
11	42
14	33
10	49
35	12
52	22
10	48
16	4
33	17
18	0
3	41
7	0
13	49
0	33
9	33
1	16
17	12
4	33
30	22
22	2
0	33
16	4
2	22
18	21
3	34
7	6
0	22
0	4
3	4

Compared With Other Events

Station records per event

Station records in Extreme rain in Australia, 12 to 19 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, 12 to 19 December 2023 (this event)	116 records

Every Record Set

20 of 116

Every record set or tied during Extreme rain in Australia, 12 to 19 December 2023, in date order
Date	Station	Record	Value	Margin	Years stood	Significance
2023-12-13	Cairns Post Office	Record daily precipitation	178.6 mm (7.0 in)	122.7 mm (4.8 in)	34	60 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-14	Mossman South Alchera Drive	Record daily precipitation	429.0 mm (16.9 in)	176.0 mm (6.9 in)	59	77 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-14	Kuranda Railway Station	Record daily precipitation	450.0 mm (17.7 in)	206.0 mm (8.1 in)	48	74 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-14	Tinaroo Falls Dam	Record daily precipitation	142.0 mm (5.6 in)	71.6 mm (2.8 in)	57	64 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-15	Kuranda Railway Station	Record daily precipitation	229.0 mm (9.0 in)	168.0 mm (6.6 in)	98	79 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-15	Mulgrave Mill	Record daily precipitation	119.0 mm (4.7 in)	80.9 mm (3.2 in)	105	71 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-15	Mossman South Alchera Drive	Record daily precipitation	174.0 mm (6.9 in)	86.9 mm (3.4 in)	80	69 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-15	Tinaroo Falls Dam	Record daily precipitation	214.0 mm (8.4 in)	71.8 mm (2.8 in)	19	62 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-15	Walkamin Research Station	Record daily precipitation	155.0 mm (6.1 in)	93.8 mm (3.7 in)	52	60 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-16	Cairns Post Office	Record daily precipitation	268.5 mm (10.6 in)	64.3 mm (2.5 in)	90	72 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-16	Mulgrave Mill	Record daily precipitation	127.0 mm (5.0 in)	85.3 mm (3.4 in)	105	72 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-16	Whyanbeel Valley	Record daily precipitation	208.2 mm (8.2 in)	95.4 mm (3.8 in)	78	61 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-17	Mulgrave Mill	Record daily precipitation	458.0 mm (18.0 in)	130.1 mm (5.1 in)	88	96 of 100 (Exceptional)
2023-12-17	Babinda Post Office	Record daily precipitation	341.0 mm (13.4 in)	154.3 mm (6.1 in)	80	65 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-17	White Cliff Point	Record daily precipitation	512.0 mm (20.2 in)	162.8 mm (6.4 in)	5	64 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-17	Mount Olive	Record daily precipitation	200.0 mm (7.9 in)	143.0 mm (5.6 in)	46	61 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-17	South Johnstone Exp STN	Record daily precipitation	295.6 mm (11.6 in)	181.2 mm (7.1 in)	33	60 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-18	Cape Tribulation Store	Record daily precipitation	861.2 mm (33.9 in)	288.8 mm (11.4 in)	0	68 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-18	Tinaroo Falls Dam	Record daily precipitation	136.0 mm (5.4 in)	81.4 mm (3.2 in)	66	67 of 100 (Major)
2023-12-18	Walkamin Research Station	Record daily precipitation	107.0 mm (4.2 in)	76.3 mm (3.0 in)	50	60 of 100 (Major)

The daily ledgers keep a limited number of records per day, so this list has 20 of the 116 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
2023-12-12	1
2023-12-13	5
2023-12-14	19
2023-12-15	22
2023-12-16	21
2023-12-17	34
2023-12-18	13
2023-12-19	1

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
130	88
168	98
176	59
206	48
64	90
85	105
81	105
87	80
289	0
81	66
154	80
72	57
163	5
72	19
95	78
143	46
123	34
94	52
76	50
181	33
206	4
162	41
141	33
124	15
35	59
144	33
64	46
104	4
58	27
134	34
157	34
132	33
67	25
47	80
65	24
33	98
137	12
143	21
75	34
54	66
50	33
378	22
38	50
76	25
16	98
187	14
20	116
64	33
49	56
121	34
15	106
46	26
6	108
6	105
6	72
51	50
37	49
14	96
78	46
42	70
46	21
60	0
25	80
39	50
71	40
49	22
112	20
47	40
76	29
50	34
33	13
36	40
38	49
44	33
34	49
60	33
10	80
40	23
39	33
3	80
11	57
63	4
36	30
58	2
49	33
15	19
51	0
31	33
11	42
14	33
10	49
35	12
52	22
10	48
16	4
33	17
18	0
3	41
7	0
13	49
0	33
9	33
1	16
17	12
4	33
30	22
22	2
0	33
16	4
2	22
18	21
3	34
7	6
0	22
0	4
3	4

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
130	88
168	98
176	59
206	48
64	90
85	105
81	105
87	80
289	0
81	66
154	80
72	57
163	5
72	19
95	78
143	46
123	34
94	52
76	50
181	33
206	4
162	41
141	33
124	15
35	59
144	33
64	46
104	4
58	27
134	34
157	34
132	33
67	25
47	80
65	24
33	98
137	12
143	21
75	34
54	66
50	33
378	22
38	50
76	25
16	98
187	14
20	116
64	33
49	56
121	34
15	106
46	26
6	108
6	105
6	72
51	50
37	49
14	96
78	46
42	70
46	21
60	0
25	80
39	50
71	40
49	22
112	20
47	40
76	29
50	34
33	13
36	40
38	49
44	33
34	49
60	33
10	80
40	23
39	33
3	80
11	57
63	4
36	30
58	2
49	33
15	19
51	0
31	33
11	42
14	33
10	49
35	12
52	22
10	48
16	4
33	17
18	0
3	41
7	0
13	49
0	33
9	33
1	16
17	12
4	33
30	22
22	2
0	33
16	4
2	22
18	21
3	34
7	6
0	22
0	4
3	4

Margin (mm)	Years the old record stood
130	88
168	98
176	59
206	48
64	90
85	105
81	105
87	80
289	0
81	66
154	80
72	57
163	5
72	19
95	78
143	46
123	34
94	52
76	50
181	33
206	4
162	41
141	33
124	15
35	59
144	33
64	46
104	4
58	27
134	34
157	34
132	33
67	25
47	80
65	24
33	98
137	12
143	21
75	34
54	66
50	33
378	22
38	50
76	25
16	98
187	14
20	116
64	33
49	56
121	34
15	106
46	26
6	108
6	105
6	72
51	50
37	49
14	96
78	46
42	70
46	21
60	0
25	80
39	50
71	40
49	22
112	20
47	40
76	29
50	34
33	13
36	40
38	49
44	33
34	49
60	33
10	80
40	23
39	33
3	80
11	57
63	4
36	30
58	2
49	33
15	19
51	0
31	33
11	42
14	33
10	49
35	12
52	22
10	48
16	4
33	17
18	0
3	41
7	0
13	49
0	33
9	33
1	16
17	12
4	33
30	22
22	2
0	33
16	4
2	22
18	21
3	34
7	6
0	22
0	4
3	4