Weather in Armidale in December

A good month. December works. It is not the peak, but nothing about it fights you. You should expect rain on 15 days of the month, which is more days wet than dry.

December ranks 8 of 12 in Armidale: past the worst of the year but short of April, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 15 days, 3 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Nothing specialised needed — this is the month you pack for the trip rather than for the weather.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 6 days top 30 °C — hot spells arrive, but they break. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 36.7 °C and the coldest night fell to 2.7 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 41 mm — roughly 38% of the month's rain in one day.

December is moderately variable: 36 mm in the driest year against 278 mm in the wettest, around an average of 109 mm. Roughly two Decembers in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 7.7 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 66%.

How December sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 24.3 °C in November, 25.7 here, 27.6 in January. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in December

December is at or near the longest days of Armidale's year: 14.1 hours of daylight, holding steady all month. Evenings are the real gain — dinner outdoors still happens in full light.

An inland climate

With no coast nearby, the year swings a fair way — 25.9 °C between the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights, wider than any coastal city at this latitude would manage. At 1053 m the air is thin enough to matter — sun that burns faster than the temperature suggests, and nights that cool off quickly.

How busy it gets

Busy. Popular without being frantic; book the things you care about, improvise the rest.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

December in Armidale versus nearby

If Armidale is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Tamworth is the weaker option in December — 5.9 °C warmer, 3 days less rain. Coffs Harbour is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, the same number of rain days.

So: December works, with April the better month by 12 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Armidale

See all twelve months in Armidale, or where else to go in December.