Weather in Canberra in December

Prime time. December is about as good as Canberra gets. Highs average 27.1 °C, lows 12.7 °C, and rain falls on 10 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

December ranks 5 of 12 in Canberra: past the worst of the year but short of April, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 10 days, 2 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: 8 days top 30 °C — hot spells arrive, but they break. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 39.4 °C and the coldest night fell to 3.4 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 53 mm — roughly 75% of the month's rain in one day.

December is moderately variable: 5 mm in the driest year against 169 mm in the wettest, around an average of 71 mm. Roughly two Decembers in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 4.8 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 61%.

How December sits in the year

The month is on the way up: 2.5 °C warmer than November, and January adds another 3.3 °C. Late in the month feels noticeably different from the start of it, which is worth knowing if the trip is short.

Daylight in December

December is at or near the longest days of Canberra's year: 14.5 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 — 27.5 °C between the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights, wider than any coastal city at this latitude would manage. Within December itself the daily swing is 14.4 °C, so mornings and afternoons need different clothes.

How busy it gets

Peak season. Expect the highest prices of the year and to be booking well ahead. If the dates are flexible, May is the trade worth considering — 9 points weaker on weather, and materially quieter.

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

December in Canberra versus nearby

If Canberra is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Katoomba is close enough to be a coin toss — 2.1 °C cooler, 1 day more rain. Bathurst is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day less rain.

So: December is effectively as good as it gets here — 5 points behind April, which is inside the margin where the weather stops being the deciding factor and price starts being it.

Every month in Canberra

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