Sunday 5 January 2025 - Monthly Climate Summary for South Australia - Product code IDCKGC13R0

South Australia in December 2024

Rainfall

• Rainfall totals in December were above average in the state's north-west, north-east, and the Lower South East district.
• Rainfall totals for the month were below to very much below average (lowest 10% of all Decembers since 1900) in central and eastern areas of the state, particularly in the Mid North district, with some areas receiving less than 5 mm for the month.
• South Australia's area-averaged rainfall total in December was 19.9 mm, 9% above the 1961–1990 average.
• For South Australia as a whole, it was drier than December 2023, but wetter than December 2022.
• Moomba Airport had its highest total December rainfall since 1999.

Temperature

• Mean maximum temperatures in December were very much above average (highest 10% of all Decembers since 1910) across most of South Australia.
• South Australia's area-averaged mean maximum temperature was 36.1 °C, 2.83 °C above the 1961–1990 average, the fifth-highest on record for all Decembers since 1910.
• South Australia had its highest mean maximum temperature for December since 2019.
• Mean minimum temperatures in December were warmer than average (based on 1961–1990) throughout South Australia, including an area of warmest on record (for all Decembers since 1910) in the far north-east of the state.
• South Australia's area-averaged mean minimum temperature was 19.6 °C, 2.03 °C above the 1961–1990 average, the fifth-highest on record for all Decembers since 1910.
• South Australia had its highest mean minimum temperature for December since 2019.
• On the 16th, multiple sites had their warmest December night on record.
• Several sites had their highest December mean minimum temperature on record or their highest December mean minimum temperature for at least 20 years.
• South Australia's area-averaged mean temperature was 27.8 °C, 2.43 °C above the 1961–1990 average, the fourth-warmest on record for all Decembers since 1910.

Events

• A low pressure trough affected South Australia on the 3rd and Moomba Airport recorded a maximum daily wind gust of 124 km/h, its highest daily wind gust on record for December. The site also recorded more than 29 mm of rain in 30 minutes, resulting in localised flash flooding.
• Low-intensity to Severe heatwaves affected parts of South Australia several times during the month, which combined with northerly winds to generate Extreme fire dangers at times.
• For more details, visit the December national climate summary.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Extremes in December 2024
Hottest day	46.5 °C at Renmark Aero on the 16th
Warmest days on average	38.8 °C at Moomba Airport
Coolest days on average	22.3 °C at Neptune Island
Coldest day	16.2 °C at Mount Lofty on the 27th
Coldest night	4.6 °C at Coonawarra on the 18th
Coolest nights on average	10.4 °C at Coonawarra
Warmest nights on average	23.9 °C at Oodnadatta Airport
Warmest night	32.7 °C at Oodnadatta Airport on the 16th
Warmest on average overall	31.3 °C at Moomba Airport and Oodnadatta Airport
Coolest on average overall	18.2 °C at Mount Lofty
Wettest overall	71.2 mm at Mount Schank (Jethia)
Wettest day	44.0 mm at Parrakie on the 1st
Strongest wind gust	130.0 km/h at Whyalla Aero on the 16th

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Maps
	Observed	Anomaly	Decile rank
Total rainfall
Mean daily maximum temperatures
Mean daily minimum temperatures

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

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Highest December total rainfall for at least 20 years
	Observed (mm)	Most recent higher		Average for December
Moomba Airport	53.8	96.4	in 1999	15.9

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

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Record highest December daily minimum temperature
	New record (°C)		Old record		Years of record	Average for December
Cape Jaffa (The Limestone)	22.9	on the 16th	22.2	on 13 Dec 2020	34	12.3
Strathalbyn Racecourse	25.7	on the 16th	=25.7	on 29 Dec 2002	29	12.9
Kuitpo Forest Reserve	27.1	on the 16th	=27.1	on 20 Dec 2019	27	12.6
Naracoorte Aerodrome	25.8	on the 16th	25.6	on 07 Dec 2015	27	10.1
Gluepot Reserve (Gluepot)	27.6	on the 16th	25.9	on 24 Dec 2009	26	13.8
Keith (Munkora)	28.3	on the 16th	28.2	on 07 Dec 2015	24	10.5
Hindmarsh Island AWS	25.2	on the 16th	23.7	on 05 Dec 2010	22	14.6
Robe Airfield	23.1	on the 16th	21.3	on 13 Dec 2020	22	11.9
Lameroo (Austin Plains)	27.2	on the 16th	25.6	on 07 Dec 2015	21	12.1

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Record highest December mean minimum temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for December
Cleve	16.7	16.5	in 2015	86	14.1
Cape Willoughby	16.3	16.2	in 2015	58	14.5
Edithburgh	16.1	16.0	in 2015	32	14.9
Hindmarsh Island AWS	16.0	15.7	in 2018	22	14.6
Robe Airfield	13.3	12.8	in 2010	22	11.9

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Highest December mean minimum temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent higher		Average for December
Cape Jaffa (The Limestone)	14.1	14.8	in 1992	12.3
Robe	14.6	14.9	in 1992	12.7
Mount Gambier Aero	11.6	13.0	in 1992	10.0

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

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Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Summary statistics for December 2024
	Maximum temperatures (°C)				Minimum temperatures (°C)				Rainfall (millimetres)
	Mean for December 2024	Diff from average	Highest for December 2024		Mean for December 2024	Diff from average	Lowest for December 2024		Total for December 2024	Average for December	Rank of December 2024	Fraction of December average
Northwest (district 16)
Andamooka	35.8	+1.2	43.9	15th	21.0	+1.4	16.0	27th	18.0	19.1	average	94%
Coober Pedy Airport	36.5	+1.9	42.7	14th	21.7	+1.7	15.6	27th	22.4	19.3	high	116%
Ernabella (Pukatja)	34.9	+1.2	40.3	25th	20.7	+1.3	16.2	24th	50.6	56.0	average	90%
Mount Ive	33.4	+0.7	39.5	16th	13.2	-1.9	11.0	28th	0.7	17.9	low	4%
Roxby Downs (Olympic Dam Aerodrome)	35.3	+0.7	43.4	15th	19.9	+0.9	14.6	27th	19.0	16.5	average	115%
Tarcoola Aero	36.5	+2.4	43.9	15th	18.8	+1.3	11.6	28th	14.8	20.5	average	72%
Woomera Aerodrome	34.5	+2.0	43.7	15th	18.9	+1.1	13.9	27th	17.4	14.7	average	118%
Far North (district 17)
Arkaroola	33.9	+1.0	41.3	26th	18.8	+0.8	13.8	26th	30.6	25.1	average	122%
Leigh Creek Airport	35.0	+1.5	41.8	15th	19.8	+0.9	15.0	28th	6.8	20.7	average	33%
Marree Aero	38.2	+1.9	44.3	15th	21.7	+1.2	16.4	24th	3.8	14.5	low	26%
Moomba Airport	38.8	+1.9	45.5	26th	23.9	+1.4	18.7	24th	53.8	14.6	high	368%
Oodnadatta Airport	38.9	+2.4	43.6	15th	24.1	+2.7	18.9	28th	13.0	16.9	average	77%
Western Agricultural (district 18)
Ceduna AMO	29.2	+1.8	43.5	5th	14.8	+0.7	6.5	1st	14.2	20.7	average	69%
Cleve	28.4	+1.6	40.0	6th	16.7	+2.6	13.0	27th	13.0	26.4	average	49%
Cleve Aerodrome	28.5	+1.2	41.1	5th	14.6	+0.6	11.0	4th	12.8	24.3	average	53%
Coffin Bay (Point Avoid)	25.3		35.6	15th	15.6		9.7	4th	14.2
Cultana (Defence)	33.1		43.8	15th	16.9		12.2	1st	5.0
Cummins Aero	29.8	+1.5	42.1	5th	12.3	-0.6	5.7	23rd	5.0	19.5	low	26%
Elliston	27.3	+2.5	40.5	5th	15.1	+0.4	9.9	12th	11.8	16.6	average	71%
Kimba	32.7	+3.2	41.2	15th	15.8	+1.8	9.8	1st	22.4	20.4	average	110%
Kyancutta	33.5	+2.5	42.5	15th	13.9	+0.9	8.5	29th	9.0	20.6	average	44%
Minnipa PIRSA	32.3	+1.7	41.5	5th	15.2	+0.9	9.4	23rd	1.6	20.7	lowest	8%
Neptune Island	22.3	+1.8	29.1	25th	16.5	+1.6	14.8	24th	14.6	16.9	average	86%
North Shields (Port Lincoln AWS)	26.1	+1.4	38.9	15th	14.7	+0.8	10.5	27th	8.6	18.3	average	47%
Nullarbor	29.2	+2.2	43.5	5th	14.9	+0.5	8.0	1st	5.6	15.7	average	36%
Port Augusta Aero	33.3	+1.1	44.9	15th	18.7	+1.3	13.9	27th	4.8	25.8	low	19%
Streaky Bay	29.4	+1.9	41.6	5th	16.5	+1.6	12.8	8th	34.5	15.0	high	230%
Whyalla Aero	29.5	+1.2	41.7	16th	17.1	+1.1	11.3	1st	17.4	25.0	average	70%
Wudinna Aero	33.2	+1.9	43.0	15th	14.1	+0.6	8.0	12th	7.4	18.7	average	40%
Upper North (district 19)
Hawker	32.4	+0.4	39.8	15th	17.7	+1.7	13.4	24th	0.0	22.1	lowest	0%
Yongala	30.5	+1.8	38.8	16th	13.0	+1.3	6.6	19th	5.2	24.6	low	21%
Northeast (district 20)
Gluepot Reserve (Gluepot)	33.4	+1.8	44.1	16th	14.4	+0.6	8.2	24th	1.6	29.0	v low	6%
Yunta Airstrip	32.6	+1.2	41.7	16th	15.3	+0.7	9.1	28th	11.2	16.6	average	68%
Lower North (district 21)
Clare High School	29.6	+1.9	38.2	16th	12.9	+0.3	6.9	11th	5.0	37.3	low	13%
Port Pirie Aerodrome AWS	32.2		43.1	15th	16.0		10.1	23rd	0.4
Snowtown (Rayville Park)	32.3	+1.8	41.7	16th	13.1	+0.7	7.6	24th	4.8	29.6	low	16%
Yorke Peninsula (district 22A)
Edithburgh	26.1	+2.1	38.9	15th	16.1	+1.2	10.3	2nd	13.6	17.8	average	76%
Kadina AWS	30.2	+1.0	40.8	15th	14.0	+0.6	8.1	24th	0.4	30.7	v low	1%
Maitland	30.2	+3.2	40.1	5th	14.1	+0.4	10.7	10th	6.8	23.9	low	28%
Minlaton Aero	28.8	+1.1	39.4	5th	14.5	+1.0	8.2	23rd	12.0	19.7	average	61%
Price	27.6	+0.3	37.7	5th	16.2	+2.1	11.7	24th	7.7	19.2	average	40%
Stenhouse Bay	24.9	+1.6	37.5	25th	16.2	+1.1	11.5	4th	23.6	16.0	average	148%
Warooka	32.1	+6.5	38.4	9th	13.0	-0.8	11.0	10th	13.9	18.1	average	77%
Kangaroo Island (district 22B)
Cape Borda	23.5	+0.9	33.7	5th	13.8	+0.8	9.8	4th	19.6	23.0	average	85%
Cape Willoughby	22.8	+2.1	34.4	25th	16.3	+1.8	13.1	27th	5.4	23.0	low	24%
Kingscote Aero	27.3	+2.2	39.2	5th	11.9	+0.8	5.4	4th	9.0	19.9	average	45%
Parndana CFS AWS	25.0	+0.3	34.9	25th	11.5	+0.2	8.6	27th	2.0	28.5	low	7%
Adelaide Plains (district 23A)
Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira)	28.9	+2.0	40.1	5th	16.0	+0.9	10.0	4th	14.6	26.2	average	56%
Adelaide Airport	27.6	+1.7	39.4	5th	16.1	+1.4	10.0	4th	11.4	23.6	average	48%
Edinburgh RAAF	29.8	+1.8	41.8	16th	15.5	+0.7	10.0	4th	14.2	24.8	average	57%
Parafield Airport	30.3	+2.4	41.1	16th	15.1	+0.3	9.8	11th	16.2	24.6	average	66%
Roseworthy AWS	30.8	+1.3	42.4	16th	13.5	+0.9	6.8	23rd	4.0	25.1	v low	16%
County Light (district 23B)
Nuriootpa PIRSA	30.0	+2.5	40.5	5th	12.7	+0.3	4.9	23rd	3.4	30.3	v low	11%
Mount Lofty Ranges (district 23C)
Hindmarsh Island AWS	26.4	+1.9	39.0	5th	16.0	+1.4	11.9	4th	26.8	24.6	average	109%
Kuitpo Forest Reserve	26.2	+2.3	36.7	15th	13.7	+1.1	9.2	23rd	35.2	35.8	average	98%
Mount Barker	28.9	+3.7	37.3	15th	12.9	+2.4	8.2	4th	32.2	35.1	average	92%
Mount Crawford AWS	27.4	+2.3	37.5	16th	12.8	+0.7	8.0	24th	15.4	32.6	low	47%
Mount Lofty	24.3	+3.9	33.3	5th	12.2	+1.5	7.4	24th	42.8	49.9	average	86%
Noarlunga	27.9	+1.4	39.1	5th	16.5	+1.2	11.8	11th	12.0	22.4	low	54%
Parawa (Second Valley Forest AWS)	23.9	+2.2	35.6	5th	13.5	+1.5	9.3	4th	24.6	36.0	average	68%
Victor Harbor (Encounter Bay)	26.0	+2.1	38.3	5th	13.9	+1.1	6.9	4th	26.2	28.3	average	93%
Upper Murray Valley (district 24A)
Loxton Research Centre	32.2	+2.2	44.5	16th	14.0	+0.7	8.6	29th	5.8	22.5	low	26%
Renmark Aero	32.9	+1.6	46.5	16th	14.7	+0.3	8.6	23rd	9.8	20.6	average	48%
Lower Murray Valley (district 24B)
Eudunda	29.3	+2.1	39.2	16th	13.5	+1.1	8.1	27th	9.8	26.2	low	37%
Meningie	27.5	+2.8	40.6	15th					0.8	23.9	v low	3%
Murray Bridge	30.5	+2.6	43.6	16th	14.7	+1.4	8.1	4th	5.0	23.7	low	21%
Murray Bridge (Pallamana Aerodrome)	30.2	+1.5	42.8	16th	13.5	+1.0	5.3	4th	6.4	26.2	low	24%
Strathalbyn Racecourse	28.3	+2.2	39.7	15th	14.4	+1.5	8.7	4th	14.4	23.6	average	61%
Murray Mallee (district 25A)
Karoonda	30.3	+0.7	43.4	16th	13.2	+0.5	8.0	22nd	6.6	24.4	low	27%
Upper Southeast (district 25B)
Keith	29.2	+1.5	42.3	16th	13.0	+1.1	8.0	4th	25.3	26.7	average	95%
Keith (Munkora)	29.6	+0.7	43.5	16th	12.0	+1.5	6.4	4th	20.2	28.6	average	71%
Lameroo (Austin Plains)	31.0	+1.4	44.9	16th	12.7	+0.6	5.8	23rd	11.0	26.3	average	42%
Lower Southeast (district 26)
Cape Jaffa (The Limestone)	24.5	+1.6	35.6	15th	14.1	+1.8	9.5	14th	25.0	22.6	high	111%
Coonawarra	26.6	+1.5	38.9	16th	10.4	+0.2	4.6	18th	49.4	35.5	high	139%
Mount Gambier Aero	25.0	+1.9	37.7	16th	11.6	+1.6	6.4	4th	69.6	38.3	high	182%
Naracoorte Aerodrome	28.5	+1.2	41.4	16th	11.7	+1.6	5.6	23rd	35.6	35.4	average	101%
Padthaway South	27.9	+1.1	39.9	16th	11.4	+0.7	5.8	4th	24.0	31.3	average	77%
Robe	22.9	+1.7	32.6	15th	14.6	+1.9	9.4	4th	37.2	27.8	high	134%
Robe Airfield	24.1	+1.2	33.8	15th	13.3	+1.4	6.7	4th	35.2	29.0	high	121%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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