Hobart City has the second-lowest annual average rainfall of any Australian capital, after Adelaide. There is a strong gradient in rainfall from sea-level areas (around 600 mm) to the elevated suburbs (more than 1,400 mm). The annual rainfall at the observing site in Ellerslie Road, Battery Point, has averaged 620 mm over the past 120 years. The driest year was 1979 with 390 mm; the wettest 1916 with 1,104 mm. Rainfall is fairly uniform through the year. The wettest month recorded was March 1946 with 255 mm, and the driest was December 1994, with only 0.4 mm.

RAINFALL, Hobart(a)
	Mean monthly total	Mean monthly days	Highest daily total
	mm	no.	mm
January	47.8	10.9	75.2
February	40.0	9.4	61.0
March	45.8	11.3	88.1
April	51.8	12.2	132.3
May	47.0	13.4	47.0
June	54.5	14.0	147.3
July	53.0	15.0	63.8
August	52.6	15.2	64.8
September	51.9	15.1	156.2
October	63.0	16.4	65.5
November	55.0	14.3	63.2
December	57.3	12.9	84.6
Annual	619.6	160.1	156.2
(a) These means and extremes are based on all available data. The period of record for rainfall starts in 1881 and is still being recorded. Source: Bureau of Meteorology.