The "Mail" has got it badly wrong - would only be correct if Brisbane had an arid climate. Its annual average rainfall is around 1100-1200mm, so the 100mm that fell is a about a month's worth, not 6 months!!

This is was they getting at?.

As bushfires continue to burn across parts of Queensland and New South Wales states, some much-needed rain has been working its way along eastern coasts.

On Wednesday night, Brisbane picked up more than 100 millimetres (about 4 inches) of rain, with 130mm (about 5 inches) falling in East Brisbane, 112mm (4.4 inches) of that in just one hour. The average rainfall for Brisbane in December is 116mm (4.6 inches) for the entire month.

The rain was accompanied by strong winds and about 29,000 homes lost power as the storm hit. Lightning strikes were fast and frequent, with 208,000 reported.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/heavy-rains-hit-east-coast-australia-191212081407669.html

Western Australia's Eucla and South Australia's Nullarbor both reached reached 49.8 degrees on Thursday, setting a new national December maximum temperature record. Prior to Thursday, the record was 49.5 degrees at Birdsville, QLD in 1972.

This was also the closest any official weather station in Australia has been to 50 degrees since 1998, when Western Australia's Emu Creek Station reached 49.8 degrees.

The new national PB for the month came shortly after South Australia's Ceduna (48.8C) registered its highest temperatures on record for any month.

The intense heat over Australia's south coast on Thursday was an extension of a much larger air mass that is causing dangerous heatwave conditions across a broad swathe of the country this week.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology's online climate database, the highest temperature reliably recorded in Australia was 50.7 degrees at Oodnadatta, SA in January 1960.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/national-december-heat-record-falls/530736

Heat records around Australia have continued to tumble today, with the ACT reaching its highest-ever recorded temperature and Penrith topping 48.9 degrees Celsius.



Canberra Airport reached 43.6C shortly before 3:00pm, which surpassed the ACT's previous record at the Old Acton Station, which reached 42.8C in January 1939.

There are no active fires in the ACT but conditions on fire grounds in surrounding areas in New South Wales are deteriorating, as hot and gusty north westerly winds ramp up.

Meanwhile, Penrith in Western Sydney reached 48.9C just after 3:00pm, a high that
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/heat-records-around-australia-continue-to-tumble-with-canberra-reaching-436-degrees-and-penrith-489/530829