Weather in Brisbane in December

Shoulder season. December is shoulder season in Brisbane — cheaper, quieter, and a genuine gamble. Highs average 28.6 °C, lows 21.5 °C, and rain falls on 14 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

December ranks 12 of 12 — near the bottom of Brisbane's year. August is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 26 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one.

This is wet-season rain: 14 wet days and 5 genuinely heavy ones, which in this climate means concentrated downpours rather than all-day grey. The pattern is usually a clear morning and a loud afternoon, so front-load the day and stop fighting the 3pm hour. Pack for 28.6 °C days and 21.5 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 8 days top 30 °C — hot spells arrive, but they break. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 38 °C and the coldest night fell to 15.6 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 51 mm — roughly 39% of the month's rain in one day.

December is moderately variable: 26 mm in the driest year against 456 mm in the wettest, around an average of 130 mm. Roughly two Decembers in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 13.6 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 71%.

How December sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 27.5 °C in November, 28.6 here, 29.3 in January. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in December

December is at or near the longest days of Brisbane's year: 13.9 hours of daylight, holding steady all month. Evenings are the real gain — dinner outdoors still happens in full light.

An inland climate

Despite being inland, the year stays fairly even: 16.7 °C between the year's warmest afternoons and coldest nights.

How busy it gets

Off season. The genuine off season: cheapest by a distance, with the caveat that some tours and restaurants close entirely.

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

December in Brisbane versus nearby

If Brisbane is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Toowoomba is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day less rain. Byron Bay is a better bet in December — 3.1 °C cooler, the same number of rain days.

So: December is a compromise. August is 26 points better and is what Brisbane is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Brisbane

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