Weather in Hervey Bay in December

Shoulder season. December is shoulder season in Hervey Bay — cheaper, quieter, and a genuine gamble. Highs average 31.5 °C, lows 20.9 °C, and rain falls on 14 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

December ranks 12 of 12 — near the bottom of Hervey Bay's year. August is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 39 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one.

Rain on 14 days, 4 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 31.5 °C days and 20.9 °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: 21 days top 30 °C, making the heat continuous rather than occasional. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 41.1 °C and the coldest night fell to 14 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 84 mm — roughly 65% of the month's rain in one day.

This is the volatile part. December rainfall has ranged from 33 mm to 531 mm across the twenty years measured — a 498 mm spread around an average of 129 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 3.1 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 69%.

How December sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 30.5 °C in November, 31.5 here, 31.9 in January. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much. Rain has already shifted: 5 days more than November had.

Daylight in December

December is at or near the longest days of Hervey Bay's year: 13.7 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: 20.4 °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 Hervey Bay versus nearby

If Hervey Bay is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Bundaberg is a better bet in December — 2.6 °C cooler, the same number of rain days. Brisbane is a better bet in December — 2.9 °C cooler, the same number of rain days.

So: December is a compromise. August is 39 points better and is what Hervey Bay 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 Hervey Bay

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