Australia just had one of its warmest Marches on record as La Niña’s end brought drier and warmer weather to large parts of the country.

Australia’s mean temperature last month was 1.11ºC above the 1961-1990 average, making it the nation’s equal 10th warmest March in 114 years of records.

This late season-heat was most noticeable in eastern and central Australia, where large areas experienced temperatures in the highest 10 percent of historical records.

Image: Observed mean temperature deciles during March 2023. Source: Bureau of Meteorology

A few places even managed to set new records. In NSW and Qld, there were 10 weather stations with more than 30 years of observations that registered their highest average March maximum temperature on record.

Sydney was one of the places that set a record for the month, with a mean maximum temperature of 27.6ºC, a whopping 2.8ºC above the long-term average.

Rainfall was mixed across Australia in March, with below average rain in parts of northern and central Australia, and well above average to record-breaking falls in pockets of eastern inland NSW, northwest Qld, the eastern NT and inland WA.

Image: Observed rainfall deciles during March 2023. Source: Bureau of Meteorology

Looking ahead, the potential for El Niño and a positive IOD later this year are increasing the likelihood of below average rain and above-average daytime temperatures over most of Australia during the rest of autumn into early winter.

Image: Rainfall and maximum temperature outlooks for the next three months combined. Source: Bureau of Meteorology