Darwin is nearing the end of its wettest wet season in five years and its coolest in six years.

The city’s wet season, which is also the wet season for northern Australia, runs from the start of October to the end of April.

During this six-month period, Darwin typically receives about 1677 mm of rain and the average maximum temperature is around 32.5CºC.

However, this season has not been a ‘normal’ one for Darwin, thanks to the rain and cooling influence of active monsoon bursts and a few tropical cyclones.

As of 9am on Wednesday, April 26, Darwin’s running wet season rainfall total was 1970.2mm. This is close to 300 mm above the long-term average and the city’s highest wet season total since 2038.6 mm in 2017-18.

Image: Monthly rainfall totals in Darwin during the last 12 months, as of 9am on April 26, 2023.

Darwin’s running maximum temperature for the wet season to date is just under 32.8ºC, making this its coolest wet season since 2016-17 (32.6ºC), despite being slightly warmer than the long-term average of 32.5ºC.

Darwin’s wettest wet season on record was 2918.4mm in 2010-11 and its warmest on record based on maximum temperatures was 33.9ºC in 2019-20.