Weather in Coffs Harbour 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 10 of 12 — near the bottom of Coffs Harbour's year. August is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 22 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one. Worth keeping in perspective: December is the weakest month of Coffs Harbour's year and it is still a perfectly good one. The downside here is small.

Rain on 15 days, 4 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: the day barely swings — 5.3 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 34.8 °C and the coldest night fell to 15.9 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 94 mm — roughly 72% of the month's rain in one day.

This is the volatile part. December rainfall has ranged from 31 mm to 544 mm across the twenty years measured — a 513 mm spread around an average of 131 mm. The average is real but almost no individual December looks like it, so treat the figure as the middle of a wide range rather than a forecast.

Wind is light at 12.4 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 75%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How December sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 24.9 °C in November, 26.3 here, 27.1 in January. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in December

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

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 24 °C in December — warm enough to stay in as long as you like. The sea peaks at 25.8 °C in February and bottoms out at 20.5 °C — water lags the air by a month or two, which is why the best swimming often comes after the best weather.

How busy it gets

Quiet. Few other visitors, cheaper rooms, and a real chance some seasonal operators are shut.

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

December in Coffs Harbour versus nearby

If Coffs Harbour is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Armidale is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, the same number of rain days. Byron Bay is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day less rain.

So: December works, with August the better month by 17 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Coffs Harbour

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