Monday 5 January 2026 - Monthly Climate Summary for Northern Territory - Product code IDCKGC12R0

Northern Territory in December 2025

Rainfall

  • Rainfall totals in December were above average for large areas of eastern and some northern areas of the Northern Territory, but below average for southern parts of the Territory, including the lowest on record for an area of the Lasseter district.
  • The Northern Territory's area-averaged rainfall total in December was 118.0 mm, 60.8% above the 1961‐1990 average.
  • Centre Island and Moolooloo had their highest December daily rainfall on record.
  • Several sites had their highest total December rainfall for at least 20 years.

Temperature

  • Mean maximum temperatures in December were above to very much above average for large parts of the south and an area of the north-west, but below to very much below average for eastern areas of the Territory.
  • The Northern Territory's area-averaged mean maximum temperature was 30.9 °C, 0.8 °C above the 1961–1990 average.
  • Mean minimum temperatures in December were above to very much above average for large parts of the south and some areas in the north, but below average for western and central areas of the Territory and area of the east.
  • The Northern Territory's area-averaged mean minimum temperature was 24.35 °C, 0.46 °C above the 1961–1990 average.
  • Milingumbi Airport had its equal-lowest December mean minimum temperature on record, at 23.5 °C.
  • The Northern Territory's area-averaged mean temperature was 30.62 °C, 0.27 °C above the 1961–1990 average.
  • McArthur River Mine Airport and Ngayawili had their lowest December mean temperature for at least 20 years.

Events

  • The northern Australian monsoon onset, as measured at Darwin occured on 23 December 2025, and from mid to late December brought heavy daily rainfall totals to some parts of the Top End.
  • For more details, visit the December national climate summary.

Darwin Airport

  • Total rainfall for Darwin Airport was 302.4 mm, which is 119% of the long-term average of 254.9 mm.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Darwin Airport was 33.3 °C, which is 0.6 °C above the long-term average of 32.7 °C.
  • The warmest day was 35.8 °C on the 2nd, and the coolest day was on the 24th when the temperature reached 30.1 °C.
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Darwin Airport was 25.5 °C, which is 0.1 °C above the long-term average of 25.4 °C.
  • The coldest morning was 22.9 °C on the 6th, and the warmest morning was on the 30th when the minimum temperature was 29.2 °C.

Alice Springs Airport

  • Total rainfall for Alice Springs Airport was 1.4 mm, which is 4% of the long-term average of 37.8 mm.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Alice Springs Airport was 37.9 °C, which is 2.4 °C above the long-term average of 35.5 °C.
  • The warmest day was 42.9 °C on the 12th, and the coolest day was on the 1st when the temperature reached 29.6 °C.
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Alice Springs Airport was 20.5 °C, which is 0.2 °C above the long-term average of 20.3 °C.
  • The coldest morning was 13.0 °C on the 2nd, and the warmest morning was on the 21st when the minimum temperature was 27.2 °C.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes in December 2025
Hottest day 44.5 °C at Jervois on the 6th
Warmest days on average 40.6 °C at Walungurru Airport
Coolest days on average 31.9 °C at Charles Point
Coldest day 25.6 °C at Central Arnhem Plateau on the 26th
Coldest night 13.0 °C at Alice Springs Airport on the 2nd
Coolest nights on average 20.5 °C at Alice Springs Airport
Warmest nights on average 26.9 °C at Centre Island
Warmest night 30.2 °C at Walungurru Airport on the 31st
Warmest on average overall 33.6 °C at Walungurru Airport
Coolest on average overall 28.6 °C at Gove Airport
Wettest overall 435.8 mm at Murganella Airstrip
Wettest day 148.0 mm at Centre Island on the 20th
Strongest wind gust 113.0 km/h at Centre Island on the 18th

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Maps
ObservedAnomalyDecile rank
Total
rainfall		 Map of Rainfall totals Map of Percentage of normal rainfall Map of Rainfall deciles
Mean
daily
maximum
temperatures		 Map of Mean maximum temperature Map of Anomaly in mean maximum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean maximum temperature
Mean
daily
minimum
temperatures		 Map of Mean minimum temperature Map of Anomaly in mean minimum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean minimum temperature

Click on a map to show it full size in a pop-up window

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Record highest December daily rainfall
New record
(mm)		 Old
record		 Years of
record		 Average for
December
Centre Island 148.0 on the 20th 146.0 on 28 Dec 2011 58 139.2
Moolooloo 104.0 on the 26th 103.0 on 19 Dec 2012 36 148.8


Highest December total rainfall for at least 20 years
Observed
(mm)		 Most recent
higher		 Average for
December
Borroloola Airport 389.4 426.2 in 1999 140.7
Delamere Weapons Range 337.2 440.4 in 2003 171.6
McArthur River Mine Airport 330.6 384.8 in 2003 129.3

note: there may be gaps in the historical record at some sites, so it is possible more recent higher values have gone unreported



Lowest December mean maximum temperature for at least 20 years
Observed
(°C)		 Most recent
higher		 Average for
December
Centre Island 33.6 32.3 in 2000 34.8

note: there may be gaps in the historical record at some sites, so it is possible more recent lower values have gone unreported



Record lowest December mean minimum temperature
New record
(°C)		 Old
record		 Years of
record		 Average for
December
Milingimbi Airport 25.3 =25.3 in 2020 23 26.0


Lowest December mean minimum temperature for at least 20 years
Observed
(°C)		 Most recent
lower		 Average for
December
McArthur River Mine Airport 24.5 24.4 in 2002 25.1

note: there may be gaps in the historical record at some sites, so it is possible more recent lower values have gone unreported



Lowest December mean temperature for at least 20 years
Observed
(°C)		 Most recent
lower		 Average for
December
McArthur River Mine Airport 30.2 30.0 in 1977 31.5
Ngayawili 28.7 28.6 in 2003 29.4

note: there may be gaps in the historical record at some sites, so it is possible more recent lower values have gone unreported



Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for December 2025
Maximum temperatures
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
(°C)		 Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
December
2025		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
December
2025		 Mean for
December
2025		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
December
2025		 Total for
December
2025		 Average
for
December		 Rank of
December
2025		 Fraction of
December
average
Darwin-Daly (district 14GA)
Batchelor Airport 33.8 -0.2 36.1 4th 23.8 -0.4 20.8 3rd 399.6 269.8 high 148%
Central Arnhem Plateau 32.9 -0.6 36.4 11th 23.4 -0.2 22.4 25th 195.0 249.0 low 78%
Channel Point 33.1 +0.6 35.1 6th 26.1 +0.9 23.0 7th 388.9 322.9 average 120%
Charles Point 31.9 -0.7 33.0 5th 25.4 -1.0 22.7 6th 372.4 270.3 average 138%
Croker Island Airport 33.1 -0.3 35.3 15th 26.0 -0.4 24.2 25th 155.6 204.0 average 76%
Darwin Airport 33.3 +0.6 35.8 2nd 25.5 +0.1 22.9 6th 302.4 254.9 high 119%
Delamere Weapons Range 36.5 +0.3 40.7 7th 24.6 -0.1 21.0 3rd 337.2 165.5 high 204%
Douglas River Research Farm 34.9 -0.2 38.0 4th 24.0 +0.1 18.3 3rd 156.2 217.0 average 72%
Dum In Mirrie Airstrip 33.1 +0.3 35.9 5th 25.5 -0.6 22.7 13th 280.2 281.2 average 100%
East Point 32.6 34.7 5th 25.6 23.0 9th 311.6
Jabiru Airport 34.9 -0.3 38.4 3rd 25.3 +0.3 22.8 18th 302.8 229.9 high 132%
Kangaroo Flats (Defence) 34.8 37.9 4th 24.5 22.3 13th 412.6
Knuckey Lagoon 33.8 36.8 3rd 25.1 23.0 6th 372.2
Middle Point 33.8 -1.2 36.4 3rd 24.6 +0.3 23.3 6th 290.2 231.4 average 125%
Mount Bundey North (Defence) 33.2 35.7 17th 24.6 23.2 19th 51.8
Mount Bundey South (Defence) 34.7 37.2 3rd 24.5 22.8 2nd 202.0
Murganella Airstrip 33.2 -1.2 35.3 31st 24.5 +0.1 22.8 12th 435.8 252.8 high 172%
Noonamah Airstrip 33.9 -0.8 36.6 12th 25.1 0.0 23.1 26th 242.6 268.4 average 90%
Oenpelli Airport 34.3 -1.5 38.0 3rd 25.2 0.0 23.5 6th 78.2 233.8 lowest 33%
Pirlangimpi Airport 33.2 +0.2 36.0 2nd 24.8 0.0 22.6 4th 347.8 342.2 average 102%
Point Stuart 33.6 -0.4 35.2 4th 25.5 +0.3 23.1 2nd 179.6 236.8 average 76%
Port Keats Airport 33.7 0.0 36.8 3rd 24.9 -0.6 22.1 4th 151.8 202.5 average 75%
Tindal RAAF 36.1 +0.2 40.3 11th 24.6 -0.3 19.4 3rd 135.2 205.3 low 66%
Arnhem (district 14BC)
Gove Airport 32.2 34.9 31st 25.0 23.7 23rd 388.8
Groote Eylandt Airport 33.6 -0.9 37.3 3rd 24.8 -0.3 22.4 3rd 200.4 184.0 average 109%
Maningrida Airport 32.8 -0.7 35.5 3rd 25.3 -0.1 24.0 11th 163.6 175.3 average 93%
Milingimbi Airport 33.1 -0.9 35.6 2nd 25.3 -0.7 23.8 6th 274.6 183.8 high 149%
Ngayawili 32.0 -0.9 36.2 3rd 25.3 -0.6 23.7 11th 250.4 227.1 average 110%
Warruwi Airport 32.3 -1.0 34.8 1st 25.5 -0.8 23.8 24th 323.2 197.9 high 163%
Roper-Mcarthur (district 14DE)
Borroloola Airport 35.3 -1.5 41.0 3rd 24.9 -0.3 21.2 3rd 389.4 132.6 high 294%
Bulman 36.2 -1.1 38.7 15th 24.2 -0.6 20.5 3rd 129.0 197.8 low 65%
Centre Island 33.6 -1.2 36.8 31st 26.9 -0.5 23.7 22nd 411.0 139.2 high 295%
Daly Waters Airstrip 36.3 -1.2 40.5 7th 23.3 -0.9 15.1 3rd 224.4 115.6 high 194%
McArthur River Mine Airport 36.0 -1.8 40.5 3rd 24.5 -0.6 19.5 2nd 330.6 125.6 high 263%
Ngukurr Airport 36.1 -2.8 40.2 15th 25.2 -0.9 21.6 3rd 222.2 120.4 average 185%
Victoria (district 14F)
Bradshaw 37.3 +0.4 41.2 4th 25.5 -0.1 22.1 17th 164.0 196.8 average 83%
Bradshaw - Angallari Valley (Defence) 37.6 42.4 4th 25.6 22.6 4th 159.2
Bradshaw - Koolendong Valley (Defence) 36.2 41.8 4th 24.2 17.9 4th 149.2
Lajamanu Airport 38.2 -0.3 42.0 5th 24.7 +0.2 18.3 3rd 82.6 82.4 average 100%
Victoria River Downs 38.0 +0.1 42.0 4th 25.1 -0.2 18.9 3rd 253.4 119.8 high 212%
Barkly (district 15A)
Elliott 37.0 -1.6 41.8 16th 24.0 -0.6 18.5 4th 205.8 101.8 high 202%
Tennant Creek Airport 36.3 -1.1 41.2 6th 24.3 -0.7 20.9 12th 147.8 76.9 high 192%
Alice Springs (district 15B)
Alice Springs Airport 37.9 +2.4 42.9 12th 20.5 +0.2 13.0 2nd 1.4 37.8 v low 4%
Curtin Springs 39.3 +2.8 43.6 6th 22.9 +2.2 18.0 27th 0.0 32.2 lowest 0%
Jervois 38.7 +0.8 44.5 6th 22.5 +0.8 13.9 2nd 50.4 39.6 high 127%
Rabbit Flat 40.4 +1.4 43.7 6th 23.4 -0.4 15.3 4th 15.8 81.2 low 20%
Territory Grape Farm 38.3 +1.7 42.6 6th 21.1 -0.2 15.0 2nd 5.4 61.2 v low 9%
Walungurru Airport 40.6 +2.0 44.2 6th 26.6 +1.5 21.2 1st 3.0 55.8 low 5%
Watarrka 39.6 +2.9 43.2 6th 23.2 +1.3 16.6 6th 3.2 37.5 v low 8%
Yulara Airport 39.0 +2.3 43.6 6th 23.3 +2.2 17.4 4th 0.4 41.4 lowest 1%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Notes

The Monthly climate summary, usually published in the first week of the following month, lists the main features of the weather in Northern Territory using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated.

This statement has been prepared based on information available on Monday 5 January 2026. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

In some situations, some or all of the rainfall is in the form of hail or snow. In these cases, the totals given are for the water equivalent: the depth of liquid water that results from melting any frozen precipitation. There can be significant 'undercatch' of snow in strong winds, meaning the true precipitation can be higher than that reported.

Averages for individual sites are long-term means based on observations from all available years of record, excluding the current year. The length of record can vary widely from site to site. Averages are not shown for sites with fewer than 10 years of record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
The median is sometimes more representative than the mean of long-term average rain.

The Rank indicates how rainfall this time compares with the climate record for the site, based on the decile ranking (very low rainfall is in decile 1, low in decile 2 or 3, average in decile 4 to 7, high in decile 8 or 9 and very high is in decile 10).
The Fraction of average shows how much rain has fallen this time as a percentage of the long-term mean.

Where temperature area averages are mentioned, they are derived from the ACORN-SAT dataset.

Information about Australian Indigenous seasonal calendars is available at the Indigenous Weather Knowledge website.

Creative Commons By Attribution logo Unless otherwise noted, all maps, graphs and diagrams in this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Climate