Weather in Hobart in December

Prime time. If you get to pick your dates, December is the one. Highs average 19.8 °C, lows 11.2 °C, and rain falls on 11 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

December ranks 4 of 12 in Hobart: past the worst of the year but short of January, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 11 days, 1 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: it never really gets hot: not one day in an average December reaches 30 °C. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 34.4 °C and the coldest night fell to 6.3 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 70 mm — roughly 115% of the month's rain in one day.

December is statistically steady but not small: the year-to-year variation is modest in relative terms, yet the wettest December on record still delivered 119 mm against 31 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 61 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind is light at 15.3 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 70%.

How December sits in the year

The month is on the way up: 1.9 °C warmer than November, and January adds another 2.1 °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 Hobart's year: 15.3 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 14.6 °C in December — cold — a quick dip rather than a swim, and a wetsuit if you are in for longer. The sea peaks at 16.6 °C in February and bottoms out at 12.4 °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

Peak season. Expect the highest prices of the year and to be booking well ahead. If the dates are flexible, April is the trade worth considering — 12 points weaker on weather, and materially quieter.

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

December in Hobart versus nearby

If Hobart is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Launceston is close enough to be a coin toss — 2.8 °C warmer, 1 day less rain. Devonport is close enough to be a coin toss — 2.3 °C cooler, 2 days less rain.

So: December is effectively as good as it gets here — 6 points behind January, which is inside the margin where the weather stops being the deciding factor and price starts being it.

Every month in Hobart

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