Rain spreading over central Australia earlier this week put on a fleeting display of waterfalls on Uluru.

A broad northwest cloudband being fed by tropical moisture form the Indian Ocean caused rain to soak large areas of northern and central Australia over the last few days.

This outback drenching transformed the usually dry Red Centre and caused some ephemeral rivers to flow, including the Todd River near Alice Springs. The rain was also heavy enough to cause waterfalls on Uluru.

Image: Waterfalls on Uluru on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. Source: @noplan.lifestyle / Instagram

Yulara Airport, located near Uluru, collected just over 16 mm of rain during the three days ending at 9am local time on Thursday, with most of this falling from Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning. While this may not seem like a lot of rain, it’s more than one month’s worth of rainfall for Uluru at this time of year.

Alice Springs had even more rain, picking up just over 40 mm in the 24 hours ending at 9am on Wednesday. This was the town’s wettest May day in 32 years.

Image: A damp day at Uluru on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. Source: @noplan.lifestyle / Instagram.

Waterfalls only appear on Uluru a handful of times each year after periods of substantial rain. On average, Uluru only sees daily rainfall exceeding 10 mm on 8 days per year. In May, days with more than 10 mm only happen about once every two years.

Those lucky enough to be in central Australia when it rained this week are now part of a select group of people who have witnessed Uluru’s waterfalls and the Todd River flowing.