Weather in Mackay in December

A good month. December works. It is not the peak, but nothing about it fights you. Highs average 28 °C, lows 25.6 °C, and rain falls on 13 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

December ranks 9 of 12 in Mackay: past the worst of the year but short of August, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 13 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 — 2.3 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 32.8 °C and the coldest night fell to 22.9 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 60 mm — roughly 44% of the month's rain in one day.

This is the volatile part. December rainfall has ranged from 14 mm to 547 mm across the twenty years measured — a 533 mm spread around an average of 136 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 15.1 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 77%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How December sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 26.7 °C in November, 28 here, 28.2 in January. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much. Rain is the thing that moves: January brings 5 days more of it, so the earlier half of a flexible trip is the safer half.

Daylight in December

December is at or near the longest days of Mackay's year: 13.4 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 27.5 °C in December — warm enough that the water offers no relief from the heat. The sea peaks at 28.5 °C in February and bottoms out at 23 °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

Shoulder. The value months — prices ease off and you get the place closer to itself.

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

December in Mackay versus nearby

If Mackay is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Airlie Beach is close enough to be a coin toss — 2.4 °C warmer, 2 days less rain. Rockhampton is the weaker option in December — 4.9 °C warmer, 2 days less rain.

So: December is a compromise. August is 26 points better and is what Mackay 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 Mackay

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