Australian Weather

12 Mar 2026, 12:33AM UTC

Rain will soak large areas of Australia during the middle of March, continuing a wet start to autumn that has caused flooding in several states and territories. The first 10 days of autumn saw rain spreading across large areas of northern, central and eastern Australia thanks to a series of low pressure troughs and low pressure systems. This wet weather was further enhanced by an active phase of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), which is a pulse of increased rain and storm activity that moves around the world near the equator roughly every 30 to 60 days. The early-autumn rain combined with soil moisture and runoff from substantial late-summer rainfall events to cause widespread flooding in parts of Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria over the last couple of weeks. This included the worst flooding in decades for parts of the NT. As of Thursday morning, major flooding was occurring in numerous river systems in Qld and the NT. Satellite images also reveal vast floodwaters flowing through rivers in central Australia this week, including inflows into Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. Image: False-colour satellite image showing floodwaters (blue) in central Australia on Wednesday, March 11, 2026. Source: NASA Worldview. Wet weather to persist for at least another week An active MJO will continue to promote rain and storms over parts of Australia during the next few weeks, increasing the likelihood of wet weather into the second half of March and possibly early April. The map below shows how much rain is being predicted during the next seven days by one computer model, with the heaviest rain across a broad area of northern and central Australia. Image: Forecast accumulated rain during the seven days ending at 11pm AEDT on Tuesday, March 18, 2026. The upcoming heavy rain is likely to cause flooding in parts of northern and central Australia, particularly in areas that have already seen flooding in recent weeks. Check the latest flood watches and warnings in your state or territory for more information.

12 Mar 2026, 12:06AM UTC

A cold front crossed Tasmania overnight and a second front is surging towards Victoria, ushering in the first relatively cool days of autumn for southeastern Australia. In addition to cooler temperatures and a few showers in parts of Tasmania and southern Victoria, the humidity that has accompanied the warmth in recent days has eased right across the southeast, making for much more comfortable conditions. The Thursday morning satellite and radar imagery below shows that the cloudband associated with the first front is already well out into the Tasman Sea. The speckled cloud pattern typically associated with a polar airmass is associated with the second front now impacting Tas and southern Vic. Image: 4-hour satellite and radar loop for SE Australia on Thursday March 12, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. Here’s a quick rundown of current conditions on Thursday morning and the forecast for coming days in the states affected by today’s cool weather: Victoria At 10:30am (AEDT), no official BoM weather station in Victoria was registering a temperature higher than the teens. Melbourne was sitting on 16.4°C on its way to a predicted maximum of 19°C, which would be the first day below 20°C of the season to date, while up at the ski village of Mount Buller it was just 3.2°C. Temperatures will stay cool across Victoria through Friday, with an extended period of maximums in the low 20s for Melbourne and southern Vic, although the mercury in northern parts of the state will push into the low-to-mid 30s by Sunday, with Mildura expecting a high of 35°C. Another noticeable change in conditions this Thursday is the absence of recent humidity. On Tuesday, Melbourne reached an unremarkable maximum of 30°C for early autumn, but locals reported it felt much hotter due to the humidity. The apparent, or "feels like" temperature was a degree or so above the actual temperature that day, while it's around two degrees cooler this Thursday. Tasmania It’s chilly in our southernmost state this Thursday, with Hobart heading for a top of just 16°C, by far the coolest day of autumn 2026 to date. At 10am, it was just 1.2°C on the 1271m summit of kunanyi/Mt Wellington high above the city Showers continue this morning in western, southern and elevated parts of Tasmania, after widespread falls of 25-50mm in those areas in the 24 hours to 9am Thursday. A few flakes of snow are also falling above 1200 metres, although this airmass is not quite cold enough for a major autumn snow event. Cool to mild conditions will prevail in for Tasmania for the next week, with a drying trend setting in. South Australia Adelaide is expected to drop 10 degrees from its Wednesday maximum of 33°C to an expected high of 23°C this Thursday. The southeast of SA has been feeling very autumnal this Thursday morning, with a 10:30am temperature (ACDT) of just 14.7°C at Mount Gambier. Warmth will return for the weekend with Adelaide expecting maximums of 29°C on Saturday and 31°C on Sunday. New South Wales/ACT Image: Minimum temperatures will be around zero in the mainland Australian high country on Friday, March 13, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. For Sydney, the big change in Thursday’s conditions is the lack of humidity which has covered the city like a shroud in recent weeks, making for sweaty conditions even on days that fell well short of 30°C. The coolest air from this system will reach New South Wales on Friday, with Sydney expecting a maximum of 23°C, which would be its lowest maximum of autumn 2026 to date. In Canberra, the next couple of nights will be significantly cooler, while the NSW ski resorts of Perisher and Thredbo are both expecting a frosty start on Friday as temperatures fall to 0°C or slightly lower. This has not been a significant rainfall event in all of the areas mentioned except for Tasmania, with only relatively light falls in the mainland states.