What is the Northern Territory like in December?
SplitThe Top End is wet and the Red Centre is hot. Both still work.
Two different places, and December treats them differently. In the Top End, December is the build-up breaking into the wet — Darwin averages 256mm of rain and 33°C with 25°C nights, so it is hot and humid, the waterfalls are spectacular and some roads close. In the Red Centre it is simply hot: Alice Springs averages 36°C, walks close in the middle of the day, and trips start before dawn. Neither is a write-off. December is the Top End's greenest month and the Centre's emptiest.
Checked on 6 October 2026.
The Northern Territory is two climates in one state, and asking what it is like in December gets you two answers. Here are both.
December by the numbers
| Where | Day | Night | December rain | Driest month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darwin | 33°C | 25°C | 256mm | July, 1mm |
| Kakadu (Jabiru) | 35°C | 25°C | 231mm | June, 1mm |
| Katherine | 36°C | 24°C | 217mm | June, 0mm |
| Alice Springs | 36°C | 20°C | 37mm | August, 8mm |
Bureau of Meteorology long-term monthly averages. The contrast between 256mm in Darwin in December and 1mm in July is the whole story of the Top End.
The Top End in December
- It is the build-up breaking.Hot, humid, with afternoon storms that are genuinely spectacular to watch.
- The waterfalls are at their best.Jim Jim and Twin Falls in Kakadu run properly, which they do not in the dry.
- Some roads close.The unsealed tracks to those same falls flood, which is why scenic flights become the way to see them.
- Swimming holes close.Not for comfort — high water moves saltwater crocodiles into places they are not in the dry, and the parks shut the pools accordingly.
- It is green.Anyone who has only seen Kakadu in the dry has seen a brown version of it.
- There is almost nobody thereand prices reflect that.
The Red Centre in December
- 36°C and dry.This is heat you plan around rather than shelter from.
- Walks close in the middle of the daywhen the forecast is high. Parks Australia enforces it at Uluru and Kings Canyon.
- So the day movesout before dawn, back by late morning, out again at five. The trips are built that way.
- Nights drop to 20°Cwhich after a 36°C day feels like relief.
- Far fewer people at the rockwhich for some is the whole argument.
- The desert after a stormis something most visitors never see — 37mm falls in December against 8mm in August.
What still runs
Most of it. The Red Centre trips run year round with earlier starts. In the Top End, Kakadu and Litchfield trips run through the wet, though individual falls and swimming holes may be closed on the day. The Arnhem Land day trips and the Gibb River Road crossings do not — Cahills Crossing floods and the Gibb closes.
| Trip | Length | Starts and finishes | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Day Uluru Budget | 3 days, 2 nights | Alice Springs or Uluru / Alice Springs or Yulara | $729 |
| 3 Day Uluru Adventure | 3 days, 2 nights | Alice Springs or Uluru / Alice Springs | $759 |
| 3 Day Kakadu & Litchfield Safari | 3 days, 2 nights | Darwin / Darwin | $819 |
| 5 Day Kakadu, Litchfield & Katherine Gorge | 5 days, 4 nights | Darwin / Darwin | $1799 |
| 3 Day Alice Springs to Darwin Tour | 3 days, 2 nights | Alice Springs / Darwin | $799 |
Would we book December?
For the Red Centre, yes, with early starts — and you will have Uluru to yourself in a way you never would in July. For the Top End, only if the dates are fixed. If you have any flexibility at all, May to September is a different trip up there: dry, swimmable and every road open. There is a month-by-month breakdown for the rock on our what is Uluru like month by month page.
3 Day Uluru Budgetfrom $7293 days, 2 nightsSwags3 days — Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings CanyonView trip
4 Day Uluru Tourfrom $8394 days, 3 nightsSwags4 days — three nights under the starsView trip
4 Day Uluru & West MacDonnell Rangesfrom $13894 days, 3 nightsSafari Tents or Swags4 days — adds the West MacDonnell RangesView tripWhere this comes from. Temperatures and rainfall are Bureau of Meteorology long-term monthly averages for Darwin Airport, Jabiru Airport, Katherine and Alice Springs Airport. Walk closures in heat are Parks Australia's published rules; wet season swimming closures and road conditions follow the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission. Trip details and prices are each trip's own, and update on their own.