Tuesday, 1 April 2014 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC17R0

Tasmania in March 2014: a warm month

Warm weather was to the fore in Tasmania for much of March 2014, although it was not as warm as the exceptional March last year. There were enough wet events in the second half of the month to ensure the dry start to the year did not continue in the north, but the southeast had another relatively dry month.

• Warm days across Tasmania, especially in the east and south
• Warm nights across Tasmania
• Not as warm as the exceptional March 2013
• Rain in the central north, but dry in the southeast
• A relatively dry year so far

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Warm days across Tasmania, especially in the east and south

The first half of March saw plenty of warm days; peaking on the 11th when several sites in the east and south reached over 32 °C (Swansea reported 33.2 °C and Dunalley 33.1 °C). There was a period of mostly cooler weather from the 16th to 29th, with some especially low temperatures in the west, south and east from the 21st to the 23rd. The last few days of the month saw a return to mild weather, with temperatures in the mid-20s reported in the southeast.

Mean maximum temperatures for the month were above average across the state, and especially so in the east and south. Most areas were around one degree warmer than the long-term March average, but some sites in the southeast were close to two degrees warmer than is typical for the time of year. Although warmer than the long-term average, temperatures were down on the exceptional and record-breaking March 2013.

Warm nights across Tasmania

Most nights were warmer than the long-term average through March. The coldest mornings were on the 6th, 20th and 24th, but these were more than offset by mild mornings on the 4th, the 10th and at the end of the month. There were fewer cold mornings than seen in most previous Marches. For example, Launceston had only 7 nights where the temperature dropped to 10 °C, compared to a long-term average of about 14 such cool nights. The lowest temperature was coldest night was -0.3 °C at Butlers Gorge and Lake St Clair National Park on the 20th and Liawenee on the 25th.

Overall, mean minimum temperatures were above average across the State, typically by about 0.5 to 1.5 °C. The north and northeast was especially mild, but not as mild as in March last year. Devonport and Lake Leake had their highest March mean daily minimum temperature on record.

Rain in the central north, but dry in the southeast

A few bursts of moderate rainfall ensured the Central North had a relatively wet March, but in the southeast conditions were generally dry.

There were three marked rainfall events during the month: around the 16th when a front crossed, the 21st and 22nd as a low passed near Tasmania, and the 27th-28th as another low passed close by. Each gave moderate to locally heavy falls, especially to the northwest, with a few sites receiving over 50 mm. Falls were less significant in the southeast of the State. Added to this, a period of westerly winds from the 16th to the 19th ensured totals in the west were close to average.

The wettest overall was Mount Read with 212.0 mm and in the northeast Mount Barrow (South Barrow) received 145.4 mm. At the other extreme Maria Island (Point Lesueur) had only 16.6 mm for the month. The 24 hours to 9 am on the 28th was locally quite wet, with 61 mm at Lorinna, 59 mm at Erriba (Jubb Road) and 57 mm at Sheffield School Farm.

The year so far has been relatively dry, especially in the southeast and on the lower East Coast. Although no records appear to have been set, a few sites (including Orford, Eaglehawk Neck, Cape Bruny and Dover) have had their driest first three months of the year since at least 1994 (and in some cases for longer still).

A warm March in Hobart

Hobart had a warm and relatively dry March. The mean daily maximum of 22.0 °C was 1.9 °C above the long-term average, whilst the mean daily minimum of 12.6 °C was 1.7 °C above the long-term average. As with most of Tasmania, the highest temperature in Hobart was on the 11th, when it reached 32.0 °C. The coolest morning was the 23rd, with a minimum temperature of 8.6 °C. Hobart's mean temperature for March of 17.3 °C was the 4th-warmest in 130 years of record (119 of them using a standard Stevenson screen), but behind the exceptional mean temperature of 18.2 °C Hobart recorded in March 2013.

Hobart's rainfall of 23.4 mm was slightly more than half the long-term average for March of 45 mm. Most of the rain fell in the one event, with 16.4 mm in the 24 hours to 9 am on the 22nd. This is the fourth consecutive month with below-average rain. In the first three months of 2014 Hobart has recorded 67.2 mm, compared to a long-term average of 132 mm, making it the driest start to the year since 2001.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Maps
	Observed	Anomaly	Decile rank
Total rainfall
Mean daily maximum temperatures
Mean daily minimum temperatures

Click on a map to show it full size in a pop-up window

Macquarie Island is 1500 km southeast of Hobart but technically part of Tasmania. Conditions there are generally unlike those in the rest of Tasmania.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top