Climate averages 1991–2020
Townsville weather
in December.
A hot, moderately wet month: the warmest and the 9th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a hot month in Townsville: daytime highs average 30.9°C and nights cool to about 24.3°C. By daytime temperature it is the warmest month of the year.
Expect about 88 mm of rain on roughly 13 days, which makes December a moderately wet month (the 9th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 13 h 16 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Cairns (283 km away). In December its highs average 29.7°C, 1.2°C cooler than Townsville, with 142 mm of rain.
Among the 32 cities listed in Australia, Townsville ranks joint 2nd of 32 for the warmest December highs and 20th of 32 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 32 cities is 26.0°C; Townsville is 5.0°C warmer than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 0.2°C to 30.7°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 88 mm to 208 mm.
The annual picture
December in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Townsville climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30.7°C24.5°C | 24.5°C | 208 | 16.6 | 13.113 h |
| February | 30.2°C24.5°C | 24.5°C | 219 | 17.7 | 12.713 h |
| March | 29.6°C23.5°C | 23.5°C | 127 | 12.7 | 12.212 h |
| April | 28.3°C21.6°C | 21.6°C | 49 | 6.9 | 11.712 h |
| May | 26.2°C19.0°C | 19.0°C | 29 | 4.9 | 11.211 h |
| June | 24.3°C16.5°C | 16.5°C | 20 | 3.8 | 11.011 h |
| July | 23.9°C15.4°C | 15.4°C | 16 | 2.7 | 11.111 h |
| August | 25.0°C16.2°C | 16.2°C | 15 | 2.2 | 11.511 h |
| September | 27.3°C18.9°C | 18.9°C | 9.8 | 3.3 | 12.012 h |
| October | 28.8°C21.3°C | 21.3°C | 22 | 5.1 | 12.513 h |
| November | 30.0°C23.1°C | 23.1°C | 47 | 8.0 | 13.013 h |
| December, selected | 30.9°C24.3°C | 24.3°C | 88 | 12.5 | 13.313 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
December in nearby cities
- Cairns in DecemberAustralia · 283 kmHigh 29.7°C · Low 24.4°C · 142 mm rain
- Mackay in DecemberAustralia · 324 kmHigh 28.0°C · Low 24.1°C · 117 mm rain
- Rockhampton in DecemberAustralia · 597 kmHigh 30.9°C · Low 22.0°C · 85 mm rain
- Sunshine Coast in DecemberAustralia · 1043 kmHigh 27.0°C · Low 21.0°C · 117 mm rain
- Toowoomba in DecemberAustralia · 1061 kmHigh 27.3°C · Low 16.2°C · 103 mm rain
- Brisbane in DecemberAustralia · 1111 kmHigh 28.3°C · Low 20.0°C · 110 mm rain
- Logan City in DecemberAustralia · 1131 kmHigh 27.7°C · Low 20.1°C · 104 mm rain
- Gold Coast in DecemberAustralia · 1182 kmHigh 26.1°C · Low 20.8°C · 109 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Townsville) is explained once on the Townsville year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.