The amount of significant weather across Australia on the weekend was remarkable. In the space of 48 hours, it snowed in Tasmania, damaging winds lashed six states and territories, a dust storm engulfed parts of NSW and the ACT, much of NSW sweltered in remarkable late-season heat as dangerous surf pummelled the state's coast, out-of-control bushfires destroyed homes in Victoria and NSW, and the eye of Tropical Cyclone Marcus moved over Darwin. The weekend's eclectic mix of weather was the result of an active monsoon trough over northern Australia and the interaction of a firm high pressure ridge over eastern Australia with a strong cold front crossing the nation's south. Australia is prone to contrasting weather like this because the county's vast land mass lies across three distinct climate zones: the tropics, subtropics and the temperate zone. However, this was a staggering list of weather events for a single weekend, even by Australian standards. TROPICAL CYCLONE MARCUS: The eye of Tropical Cyclone Marcus moved over Darwin on Saturday, lashing the city with powerful winds and heavy rain. Trees were uprooted and sent tumbling down the street as winds gusted to 124km/h at Darwin Airport and 130km/h on the Harbour during the late morning. A rain gauge at Gunn Point registered 183mm of rain during the 48 hours to 9am on Sunday. Cyclone Marcus has since moved over the Kimberley and tracked offshore again this morning. Marcus is expected to intensify into a severe tropical cyclone to the north of WA during the next 24 hours and may reach category five strength over the eastern Indian Ocean later in the week. EXTREME HEAT, FIRES, WIND AND DUST: A pulse of late season heat swept across the nation's southeast on the weekend ahead of the approaching cold front. Temperatures climbed up to 13 degrees above average in parts of SA and Victoria on Saturday and were as much as 15 degrees hotter than usual for March in NSW on Sunday. Sydney recorded its hottest March day in 14 years on Sunday and the hottest day this late in the season since 1940, after reaching 38.4 degrees in the city. Sydney Airport's 40.5 degrees was its hottest day this late in the season in at least 79 years, while Bankstown's 40.1 degrees was its hottest March day since 1993. Unfortunately, those escaping the heat at the coast found large waves and dangerous rips at many beaches in NSW. A powerful southerly swell caused by a low pressure system crossing the southern Tasman Sea late last week caused maximum wave heights to reach 3.6 metres off the coast of Sydney on Saturday. The intense heat combined with blustery winds to elevate fire danger ratings across multiple states on Saturday and Sunday. A number of homes were lost to uncontrollable fires in southwest Victoria and southern NSW amid the weekend's hot and windy weather. Fires were pushed right to the coast in some areas as the hot offshore winds held out the sea breeze. Smoke and dust blown across the ACT and parts of southern and central NSW on Sunday. Visibility was reduced significantly in parts of Canberra as airborne topsoil turned the skyline brown. Wind gusts reached 122km/h at Victoria's Wilsons Promontory on Sunday, although the strongest winds of the weekend occurred further south. Tasmania's Mt Wellington clocked a gust of 141km/h on Sunday morning and Maatsuyker Island withstood a staggering gust of 156km/h in the early hours of Monday. This was Maatsuyker Island's strongest March wind gust on record. SNOW: Perhaps the most surprising weather event of the weekend for many was snow falling in Tasmania. A pulse of cold air following the cold front caused temperatures to drop enough for snowflakes to fall on some of the state's mountains, including Ben Lomond. While it may seem unusual for snow to be falling in Tasmania as fires burn out of control in Victoria and temperature exceed 40 degrees in Sydney, the weather behind these events are actually all linked to the same synoptic systems. It was a coincidence that these events all occurred as a cyclone hit Darwin.