Melbourne rainfall by suburb, and what it means for your roof

Quick answer: Melbourne averages about 536 mm of rain a year at Melbourne Airport and 575 mm in the city (Olympic Park), but it varies a lot by suburb. Bureau of Meteorology stations record from 533 mm a year at Laverton in the west to 845 mm at Glen Waverley and 882 mm at Croydon in the east, and 1,311 mm at Ferny Creek in the Dandenong Ranges.

Ask ten Melburnians how much it rains here and you'll get ten answers, and they can all be right.

The rain gauges at Laverton and Croydon are about 48 km apart, and Croydon catches about two thirds more rain a year (882 mm against 533 mm). On a roof, that shows up as more moss, more leaf litter in the valleys and more gutter overflows the further east you go.

Less rain doesn't mean less trouble, though. The drier west and north-west get the strongest winds on record and plenty of cold nights, and that's hard on ridge caps and pointing.

Here's the data by suburb, from 20 Bureau of Meteorology stations near the areas we work in, and what it means for the roofs there.

How much rain does Melbourne get a year? About 536 mm at the Airport

Melbourne Airport averages 536.2 mm a year (BOM, 1970 to 2026), and Olympic Park in the city 575.3 mm (2013 to 2026). The wettest months at the Airport are November (62.4 mm) and October (55.7 mm); August has the most rain days (9.6).

Mean monthly rainfall at Melbourne Airport and Olympic Park (BOM). The same figures are in the table below.

Melbourne Airport (086282), 1970 to 2026; Melbourne (Olympic Park) (086338), 2013 to 2026. Rain days are days with at least 1 mm.

Melbourne rainfall by suburb: 533 mm in the west to 882 mm in the east

Rainfall climbs as you head east towards the Dandenong Ranges. The west and north-west average 533 to 591 mm a year, the inner suburbs about 657 to 673 mm, and the south-east and outer east about 832 to 882 mm.

Mean annual rainfall at 20 Bureau of Meteorology stations. Each station, its record and the suburb guides nearest to it are in the table below.

The inner east sits in the middle. The BOM gauge at Scotch College in Hawthorn records 660.9 mm a year (1972 to 2026), close to Preston and the Botanical Gardens, and well short of the south-east.

Good to know "nearest" means the closest of these stations to the centre of each suburb, in a straight line. Your street can differ, especially on a hill or close to the ranges.

Which parts of Melbourne get the heaviest downpours?

The east. Scoresby averages 4.4 days a year with 25 mm of rain or more, against 2.5 at Laverton and 2.6 at Melbourne Airport. Ferny Creek in the ranges gets 10.3.

A 25 mm day is the test for gutters and valleys. If a gutter is blocked or a valley is full of leaves, that's the day water backs up under the tiles and into the eaves.

The fix in the wetter east and south-east, keep valleys and gutters clear and check them after heavy rain, not just once a year. See how often to clean gutters, or have us look at your guttering.

Hot days and cold nights: Viewbank gets the most 35 °C days

Of the eight stations that record temperature, Viewbank gets the most days at 35 °C or hotter (14.0 a year) and has an average January maximum of 28.3 °C. Laverton has the most nights at 2 °C or colder (15.6). The city station at Olympic Park has only 1.5.

Days a year at 35 °C or hotter and nights at 2 °C or colder at eight BOM stations. The figures are in the table below.

Big swings between hot days and cold nights make a roof expand and contract harder, and that's what cracks old rigid pointing on the ridges. I've written up what ridge capping is and when it needs repointing.

Wind: the airports in the west, north-west and bayside are the windiest

Average 3pm wind speeds run 15.4 to 22.0 km/h across these stations. The open airports at Melbourne Airport, Essendon, Laverton and Moorabbin sit at the top. The highest gusts on record are 154 km/h at Laverton and 147 km/h at Essendon Airport.

Wind is what lifts loose ridge caps and slips tiles out of line. VICSES warns that loose roof tiles can become flying debris in strong winds.

What your suburb’s weather means for your roof

North-west and west: the driest, windiest and coldest at night

Around Tullamarine, Essendon, Moonee Ponds, Taylors Lakes, Keilor East and Point Cook, rainfall is the lowest in Melbourne (533 to 591 mm), but the gust records are the highest and cold nights are common (8.2 a year at Melbourne Airport, 15.6 at Laverton).

On these roofs the usual problems are wind-lifted ridge caps, slipped tiles and cracked pointing, more than moss. The north-west is our home patch; we're based in St Albans.

Inner north: Brunswick, Preston and Montmorency

The gauges near Brunswick, Preston and Montmorency record 591 mm at Flemington, 657 mm at Preston Reservoir and 735 mm at Eltham. Rain climbs as you go north-east towards the hills.

Inner east: Kew, Hawthorn, Camberwell, Balwyn, Surrey Hills, Toorak and Malvern

All seven are nearest the Hawthorn gauge (661 mm a year). The rain is moderate, but the big old trees and older terracotta roofs around Kew, Hawthorn, Camberwell, Balwyn, Surrey Hills, Toorak and Malvern mean leaf-filled valleys and tired pointing.

Doncaster, Templestowe, Box Hill and Burwood: hotter summers, wetter to the east

Viewbank, the nearest station to Doncaster and Templestowe, gets 14.0 days a year at 35 °C or hotter, the most of any station here, and 14.1 cold nights. Box Hill and Burwood are nearest Mitcham (840 mm a year).

The January 2020 hail hit Templestowe among the worst (AIDR). Heat and hail are the big risks here; see what hail does to a roof.

South-east: the wettest suburbs we cover

The gauges nearest Glen Waverley, Wheelers Hill, Mount Waverley, Clayton, Mulgrave and Rowville record 740 to 854 mm a year. Scoresby averages 114.6 rain days a year, the most of any temperature station here outside the ranges.

Damp roofs grow moss and lichen, and valleys and gutters work hard. On a Glen Waverley Colorbond roof we restored, the old coating had broken down and left bare metal exposed.

Bayside: Brighton, Hampton, Sandringham, Bentleigh and South Melbourne

Cheltenham's gauge, nearest Hampton and Sandringham, records 736 mm a year, and Oakleigh's, nearest Bentleigh, 740 mm. Moorabbin Airport, between them, averages 701 mm. Brighton's nearest gauge in this set is Hawthorn (661 mm), about 8 km away, and South Melbourne is nearest the city station (575 mm).

Moorabbin's average 3pm wind (21.4 km/h) is close to the airports in the west, so wind matters on bayside roofs as well as rain.

Outer east: Ringwood and Bayswater

Ringwood North records 832 mm a year and Croydon 882 mm, near Ringwood and Bayswater. Tall trees and heavy rain make gutters, valleys and moss the main jobs.

Where our work is

Of the 385 repair and restoration jobs we've done since 2021 (as at September 2026), 175 were in the inner east (Hawthorn, Surrey Hills, Balwyn, Box Hill, Burwood, Doncaster and Templestowe), 86 in the north-west and 73 in the inner south. See all the suburbs we cover.

Sources and methodology

Every figure in this guide comes from a published source or from our own work. Here is where each one came from and how we used it.

Where the numbers come from

• Bureau of Meteorology, climate statistics: Melbourne Airport (086282), Essendon Airport (086038), Laverton RAAF (087031), Melbourne (Olympic Park) (086338), Viewbank (086068), Scoresby Research Institute (086104), Moorabbin Airport (086077) and Ferny Creek (086266): rainfall, rain days, heavy-rain days, days at 35 °C or hotter, nights at 2 °C or colder, 3pm wind and highest gusts. Checked 20 September 2026.

• Bureau of Meteorology, Climate Data Online (monthly rainfall): mean annual rainfall at 12 rainfall stations, including Hawthorn (Scotch College) 086304, Glen Waverley (Golf Course) 086303, Preston Reservoir 086096 and Croydon (Dorset Golf Course) 086234. Checked 20 September 2026.

• Bureau of Meteorology, Victorian station list: station coordinates, record length and completeness. Checked 20 September 2026.

• VICSES, storms: roof tiles as flying debris in strong winds. Checked 19 September 2026.

• Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub: January 2020 hailstorms and the worst-hit suburbs. Checked 15 July 2026.

How we worked them out

• All figures are BOM's published long-term means. We haven't adjusted or combined them. Rainfall for the eight airport and research stations comes from their climate statistics; for the other 12 it's the mean annual total in Climate Data Online's monthly rainfall statistics.

• Records differ in length, from 13 years at Olympic Park to more than a century at Flemington, Preston Reservoir and Eltham. Treat side-by-side comparisons as broad.

• "Nearest station" is the straight-line distance from each suburb's centre (from our service map) to the station's coordinates in BOM's station list. Ferny Creek is shown as a reference only; it isn't nearest to any suburb we cover.

• "Highest gust on record" is BOM's maximum wind gust for the station's gust record. Longer records and open airport sites catch bigger gusts, which is why we lead with average 3pm wind.

• The roof effects for each region come from our own work on Melbourne roofs.

Good to know a rain gauge measures one spot. Hills, valleys and tree cover change what lands on your roof, and the rainfall-only stations don't record temperature or wind.

Job figures supplied by Ryan Airey, as at September 2026.

Checked by Ryan Airey on 20 September 2026. Next review: September 2027. How we research, write and check our guides: editorial policy.