Tuesday, 1 April 2014 - Monthly Climate Summary for Sydney - Product code IDCKGC15L0

Sydney in March 2014: A warm and stormy March for Sydney.

Sydney experienced a warm and cloudy March, with the most rain days since 2001. There were more thunderstorms than normal for March which brought locally heavy rainfall and hail, with very heavy rain in the eastern suburbs on the 24th.

• Most rain days since 2001
• Fifth-warmest mean temperatures on record
• Longest March warm spell above 25 °C on record
• Above average number of thunderstorm days

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall - Most rain days since 2001

Sydney Observatory Hill recorded 102.6 mm of rain during March, slightly below the historical average of 129.7 mm. Across the city, most stations recorded average to above average rainfall, although totals were generally lower than those recorded in March 2012. The highest totals were recorded in the eastern suburbs, with 251 mm at Audley, its wettest March since 1983.

The rain fell over 22 rain days, well above the March average of 14 days and the most since March 2001 (22 days). Eight days recorded at least 5 mm at Observatory Hill (average 5 days) but only one exceeded 20 mm (average 2 days), with 27.8 mm recorded to 9 am on the 13th.

Much of the rain during March was associated with fast-moving thunderstorms that produced short-lived heavy rain in impacted regions. The heaviest rainfall was experienced in southern Sydney on the 24th, with daily totals to 9 am on the 25th reaching 112 mm at Audley and 132 mm at Cronulla.

Temperature - Mild days and nights

The mean maximum temperature at Sydney Observatory Hill during March was 26.4 °C, 1.7 °C above the historical average and the equal-seventh-warmest on record (with March 2013). Temperatures were mild throughout the month: the coolest day was 22.2 °C on the 27th, only the fifth March on record with no days below 22 °C. The warmest day reached 29.7 °C on the 18th, with no days exceeding 30 °C (average 1.6 days).

Only six days failed to reach 25 °C during the month, the second-fewest on record for Sydney following 3 cool days in March 2006 (average 17 days). This included a spell of 21 consecutive days above 25 °C between the 3rd and 23rd, the most on record for March (previous 15 days in 1985 and 2010) and the sixth-longest spell on record for any month.

The average minimum temperature during March was 19.2 °C, 1.6 °C above the historical average and the equal-seventh-warmest on recod. Nights were also persistently mild, with no nights dropping below 15 °C (average 4 nights) and eight nights exceeding 20 °C (average 4 nights).

The mean temperature was consequently 22.8 °C, 1.6 °C above the historical average and the fifth-warmest on record.

Other phenomena

Sydney airport recorded an average of 6.3 hours of bright sunshine during March, below the historical average of 6.9 hours. The prevailing wind direction was easterly, with 77% of 3 pm winds between NNE and SSE; easterly winds are normal for March. There were three strong wind days during the month, with the strongest gust recorded at Fort Denison, reaching 91 km/h during a storm on the 15th.

There were eight days with thunderstorms reported at Sydney airport during March, the most storms on record for March and more than double the number recorded during summer 2013-14 (2 storms). Many of these storms were fast-moving, with short-lived heavy rain including:

• 5 March - 27 mm of rain in 30 minutes at Sans Souci
• 6 March - 25 mm in 30 minutes at Oberon
• 7 March - 29.5 mm in 30 minutes at Baulkam Hills
• 15 March - 17 mm in 10 minutes at Avalon
• 22 March - 2-3 cm hail reported in the Sutherland region
• 24 March - 55 mm in 30 minutes at Cronulla; the storm caused flooding in parts of southern Sydney, with six flood rescues
• 30 March - Storms in western Sydney produced 32 mm of rain in 30 minutes at North Richmond and 38 mm in 30 minutes at Box Hill, as well as 4 cm hail at St Clair. Storms caused roof damage at Katoomba Hospital and Katoomba Sports and Aquatic Centre as well as downed trees and powerlines and localised flooding.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Most values are the precipitation in the 24 hours to 9 am on the day indicated. Days marked with »» are part of a longer accumulation, which is marked like this on the final day. Values over 100 mm have been rounded to the nearest whole millimetre. Days marked with - have a rainfall report of zero; days left blank have no rainfall report (which often indicates no rain fell).
This table is very wide; you may have to scroll sideways to see all the days, and you may need to set the paper to 'landscape' to print.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top