Remote Islands and Antarctica in March 2025

Australia's Indian Ocean islands

  • Christmas Island Aero monthly rainfall total was 405.8 mm, this was above the March average rainfall of 298.9 mm.
  • At Christmas Island Aero, the mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were 0.6 °C and 0.9 °C above the March average, respectively.
  • The monthly rainfall total at Cocos Island Airport was 366.0 mm, this was above the March average rainfall of 234.7 mm.
  • At Cocos Island Airport, the mean maximum and minimum temperatures were 0.5 °C above the March average.
  • Cocos Island Airport had its hottest March day (highest daily maximum temperature) on record on the 7th at 32.8 °C, the previous record was 32.7 °C in 1998.

Australia's Pacific Ocean islands

  • Norfolk Island Aero recorded a monthly rainfall total of 62.4 mm, this was below the March average of 103.8 mm.
  • At Norfolk Island Aero, the mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were 1.0 °C and 0.2 °C above the March average, respectively.
  • The monthly rainfall total at Lord Howe Island Aero was 62.8 mm, this was below the March average rainfall of 103.8 mm.
  • At Lord Howe Island Aero, the mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were 0.9 °C and 1.0 °C above the March average, respectively.

Australia's Antarctic and sub-Antarctic territories

  • The strongest wind gust recorded at the Australian Antarctic stations during March was 139 km/h at Casey on the 10th.
  • Both mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures for March were below average at Davis and Mawson, while at Casey they were above average.
  • Monthly precipitation at Macquarie Island was 124.4 mm, this was above the March average rainfall of 101.1 mm.
  • The mean maximum and mean minimum temperature at Macquarie Island was 0.9 °C above the March average.
  • The strongest wind gust recorded in March at Macquarie Island was 102 km/h on the 21st.

Highest March total rainfall for at least 20 years
Observed
(mm)
Most recent
higher
Average for
March
Casey 33.8 34.8 in 1999 17.6

note: there may be gaps in the historical record at some sites, so it is possible more recent higher values have gone unreported




Record highest March temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Average for
March
Cocos Island Airport 32.8 on the 7th 32.7 on 21 Mar 1998 74 30.1




Summary statistics for March 2025
Maximum temperatures
(°C)
Minimum temperatures
(°C)
Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
March
2025
Diff
from
average
Highest for
March
2025
Mean for
March
2025
Diff
from
average
Lowest for
March
2025
Total for
March
2025
Average
for
March
Rank of
March
2025
Fraction of
March
average
Offshore Islands
Lord Howe Island Aero 25.9 +0.9 28.2 17th 21.1 +1.0 17.8 15th 62.8 128.1 low 49%
Norfolk Island Aero 25.4 +1.0 27.3 1st 19.5 +0.2 17.9 14th 62.4 103.8 average 60%
Christmas Island Aero 28.9 +0.6 30.1 6th 24.0 +0.9 21.5 24th 405.8 298.9 high 136%
Cocos Island Airport 30.6 +0.5 32.8 7th 25.8 +0.5 24.0 8th 336.4 234.7 high 143%
Antarctica and Macquarie Island
Casey -3.2 +1.0 1.6 13th -8.5 +1.4 -14.5 31st 33.8 16.9 high 200%
Davis -6.3 -0.7 1.8 12th -11.3 -0.4 -21.8 31st 0.6 8.7 lowest 7%
Macquarie Island 8.9 +0.9 10.6 20th 5.7 +0.9 3.5 26th 124.4 101.1 high 123%
Mawson -8.5 -1.3 -2.8 13th -14.4 -1.1 -21.3 30th

Daily maximum temperatures for March 2025
Offshore Islands 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Lord Howe Island Aero 26.8 26.8 24.4 23.9 25.0 24.2 24.3 25.7 26.1 25.8 26.2 25.5 25.9 26.7 26.5 26.5 28.2 24.2 25.0 26.2 26.2 26.7 27.4 25.4 26.5 26.3 25.2 26.3 26.1 25.3 26.6
Norfolk Island Aero 27.3 27.2 26.4 25.6 26.5 26.1 26.0 24.6 25.1 25.8 25.2 24.7 25.1 25.1 25.1 25.0 25.8 26.1 24.9 24.6 24.0 25.0 24.8 25.8 26.1 25.5 25.1 24.9 24.7 25.0 25.8
Christmas Island Aero 29.3 29.5 29.2 29.4 29.3 30.1 29.5 29.4 29.2 28.9 29.7 29.3 29.0 29.2 27.9 27.9 26.7 27.5 29.6 29.2 29.2 29.1 28.3 28.4 27.2 28.3 28.3 29.9 29.5 29.8 28.6
Cocos Island Airport 31.3 31.3 30.9 31.0 31.7 29.6 32.8 32.1 32.3 31.5 30.8 31.1 30.7 30.2 31.0 29.9 29.3 29.5 29.5 30.6 31.0 30.1 29.8 29.3 28.8 29.8 29.8 30.6 30.8 31.1 29.9
Antarctica and Macquarie Island 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Casey -4.3 -3.0 -3.4 -3.5 -1.1 -0.5 0.0 -1.9 -3.6 -1.2 0.0 0.4 1.6 -1.3 -5.3 -1.7 -1.1 -2.2 -4.0 -3.8 -4.3 -5.3 -5.8 -4.6 -7.5 -3.7 -3.2 -6.6 -4.0 -6.0 -7.9
Davis -1.5 -5.9 -4.3 -3.4 -6.0 -4.7 -5.9 -3.6 -3.1 -2.5 -0.8 1.8 -0.1 -3.0 -6.3 -9.2 -10.7 -7.8 -3.5 -2.7 -4.0 -6.2 -8.0 -7.5 -9.1 -11.1 -12.0 -10.5 -12.5 -15.8 -16.6
Macquarie Island 9.7 9.3 8.7 9.9 10.0 9.7 8.8 8.8 9.2 8.4 8.3 8.1 8.4 8.4 9.1 9.3 9.3 9.0 9.5 10.6 8.8 9.1 7.9 9.0 8.8 7.9 8.0 8.5 8.6 8.6 8.7
Mawson -5.3 -4.8 -5.7 -6.9 -7.5 -9.1 -8.8 -8.0 -7.2 -7.3 -6.4 -4.8 -2.8 -7.3 -8.0 -5.8 -6.6 -9.4 -8.1 -6.8 -6.1 -9.6 -10.9 -11.9 -9.9 -12.0 -12.7 -13.2 -15.6 -10.2 -13.3
Values are the maximum temperature, usually in the 24 hours from 9 am on the day indicated,
and typically occurred in the afternoon of that day.
Temperatures coloured according to their difference
from the long-term average for the period
-10.0 -9.0 -8.0 -7.0 -6.0 -5.0 -4.0 -3.0 -2.0 -1.0 0.0 +1.0 +2.0 +3.0 +4.0 +5.0 +6.0 +7.0 +8.0 +9.0 +10.0 °C Grey outline marks highest
and lowest for the period

Daily minimum temperatures for March 2025
Offshore Islands 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Lord Howe Island Aero 22.8 22.4 23.7 21.3 21.2 22.1 21.2 21.4 20.7 21.3 22.1 20.8 18.2 21.4 17.8 19.2 22.5 20.9 20.1 20.5 20.9 21.9 18.7 17.9 21.2 22.8 21.6 20.9 23.1 21.4 21.2
Norfolk Island Aero 21.0 21.8 20.6 21.3 21.2 20.8 19.9 19.5 19.2 18.6 19.6 18.9 19.2 17.9 18.8 18.8 18.8 19.1 19.3 18.8 18.1 18.0 19.0 20.0 20.5 19.0 20.5 18.5 18.7 19.2 21.0
Christmas Island Aero 24.3 25.7 25.6 25.8 24.8 24.9 25.1 24.6 25.4 24.9 23.0 23.7 24.4 23.4 22.9 23.6 22.2 22.6 22.3 25.4 25.4 26.0 22.6 21.5 22.9 23.9 23.8 24.0 23.8 22.5 23.5
Cocos Island Airport 26.3 27.6 25.3 26.7 27.9 27.1 25.1 24.0 25.9 27.7 26.7 26.5 26.0 25.3 26.7 25.4 25.8 24.4 24.3 24.8 25.1 26.7 25.9 25.3 25.8 24.7 26.3 26.3 25.8 24.7 24.9
Antarctica and Macquarie Island 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Casey -6.6 -8.1 -7.3 -9.6 -10.2 -12.4 -1.9 -7.5 -10.5 -10.7 -6.1 -1.9 -3.9 -4.8 -7.0 -8.6 -5.8 -7.1 -6.5 -7.1 -11.0 -12.4 -10.5 -12.9 -8.0 -11.7 -10.4 -8.2 -11.8 -8.6 -14.5
Davis -4.9 -7.5 -8.0 -9.9 -11.7 -9.6 -8.8 -8.1 -10.6 -9.6 -6.3 -4.1 -1.1 -7.8 -8.1 -14.7 -14.2 -14.8 -12.7 -8.7 -9.3 -10.9 -13.3 -11.5 -12.5 -17.4 -18.2 -17.4 -15.6 -19.7 -21.8
Macquarie Island 5.8 7.7 3.9 4.2 7.2 6.8 4.9 5.1 6.5 7.1 4.9 6.0 6.8 6.7 6.1 6.3 4.6 5.1 5.1 5.7 6.4 6.3 5.4 4.4 6.2 3.5 4.0 5.5 7.3 3.7 6.6
Mawson -14.0 -11.1 -11.9 -13.3 -12.8 -14.2 -16.8 -15.3 -13.2 -13.0 -12.2 -11.1 -9.2 -12.4 -11.9 -14.1 -14.8 -13.5 -12.3 -12.8 -11.2 -12.9 -12.1 -18.4 -17.4 -17.5 -19.4 -20.7 -20.6 -21.3 -15.9
Values are the minimum temperature, usually in the 24 hours to 9 am on the day indicated,
and typically occurred that morning.
Temperatures coloured according to their difference
from the long-term average for the period
-10.0 -9.0 -8.0 -7.0 -6.0 -5.0 -4.0 -3.0 -2.0 -1.0 0.0 +1.0 +2.0 +3.0 +4.0 +5.0 +6.0 +7.0 +8.0 +9.0 +10.0 °C Grey outline marks highest
and lowest for the period

Daily rainfall for March 2025
Offshore Islands 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Lord Howe Island (Milky Way) 0.6 - 0.8 10.6 8.2 0.4 7.2 0.4 - - - 1.0 - 0.2 - - 0.4 2.2 0.4 - - - - 1.0 - - 1.2 13.0 - 3.8 11.2
Lord Howe Island Aero - - 1.0 8.8 11.0 0.2 4.2 - - 0.2 - 1.6 0.4 - 1.4 0.2 0.8 0.8 0.2 - - 0.2 - 0.2 0.2 - 6.8 16.2 0.2 8.2
Norfolk Island Aero 0.4 0.2 - 0.8 3.6 - - 0.2 0.4 1.0 0.2 1.4 - - - 0.4 21.4 - 8.0 0.2 0.4 - - - 0.2 21.4 2.0 - 0.2 - -
Christmas Island Aero 3.2 - - 0.2 3.0 2.6 - - - 0.2 56.0 - 4.0 29.4 12.6 12.0 16.6 43.0 18.6 2.6 0.6 - 16.2 84.4 41.0 25.4 30.6 3.4 - 0.2 -
Cocos Island Airport 5.4 0.2 14.6 - - 5.0 27.2 53.2 - 1.6 - 7.6 - 8.8 0.2 31.0 0.4 34.8 62.6 10.2 0.6 - 2.6 15.0 14.0 41.4 - - - - -
Antarctica and Macquarie Island 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Casey - - - - - - - - - 3.4 2.0 - 0.8 3.2 - - - - - - - - 8.6 1.8 0.2 - 2.8 6.0 0.6 2.4 2.0
Davis - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 0.6 - - - - - -
Macquarie Island 15.8 3.6 3.2 1.6 0.2 1.8 9.8 2.2 0.4 5.0 0.2 0.6 - 3.8 6.0 7.8 1.2 6.6 3.8 4.6 6.0 0.4 7.4 - 4.2 5.4 6.4 6.6 0.6 7.2 2.0
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 shown 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).
Rainfalls coloured
according to the amount
0 1.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 25.0 50.0 100 150 200 300 400 600 millimetres

Map of the areas covered by this summary

Notes

The Monthly climate summary, usually published in the first week of the following month, lists the main features of the weather in Remote Islands and Antarctica using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated.

This statement has been prepared based on information available on Tuesday 1 April 2025. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

In some situations, some or all of the rainfall is in the form of hail or snow. In these cases, the totals given are for the water equivalent: the depth of liquid water that results from melting any frozen precipitation. There can be significant 'undercatch' of snow in strong winds, meaning the true precipitation can be higher than that reported.

Averages for individual sites are long-term means based on observations from all previous years of record, which vary widely from site to site. They are not shown for sites with less than 10 years of record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
The median is sometimes more representative than the mean of long-term average rain.

The Rank indicates how rainfall this time compares with the climate record for the site, based on the decile ranking (very low rainfall is in decile 1, low in decile 2 or 3, average in decile 4 to 7, high in decile 8 or 9 and very high is in decile 10).
The Fraction of average shows how much rain has fallen this time as a percentage of the long-term mean.

Where temperature area averages are mentioned, they are derived from the ACORN-SAT dataset.

Information about Australian Indigenous seasonal calendars is available at the Indigenous Weather Knowledge website.

Creative Commons By Attribution logo Unless otherwise noted, all maps, graphs and diagrams in this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Climate