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Warm, dry end to autumn tipped for NSW

Ben Domensino, Wednesday April 5, 2017 - 10:58 AEST

It was a near-record warm and notably wet March for much of New South Wales, although as always, some areas bucked the trend.

Last month was the state's second warmest March on record, behind 2016. Both minimum and maximum temperatures were more than two degrees above the long term average.

The most notable and persistent heat during March was in the state's west. Broken Hill had a record 26 days over 30 degrees during the month and Wilcannia's 44 degrees on March 27th was the highest temperatures recorded in NSW this late in the season. By contrast, maximum temperatures were near-average in parts of central and eastern NSW, mainly due to the influence of prolific cloud and rain.

Numerous locations in the state's east had their wettest March on record, including Emmaville, Mullumbimby, Yamba, Murwillumbah, Inverell, Grafton, Tabulam, Parkes, Mona Vale and Avalon. This feat was made possible largely by rain associated with Ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie at the end of the month. This system also caused major flooding in parts of the state's northeast last week.

The abundant rainfall across central and eastern districts last month made it the 10th wettest March on record for NSW as a whole. However, some areas missed out.

Menindee only received 2.2mm of rain during March, which is less than 20 per cent of the town's monthly average. Broken Hill received no rainfall for the second month in a row and has now had more than 70 consecutive days without rain. This is the longest dry spell in five years.

Looking ahead, forecast models suggest that temperatures will remain above average during the rest of autumn and into the start of winter, particularly west of the ranges. Rainfall is favoured to be below average across inland areas of NSW during the rest of this season.

The dry outlook fits in with the trend experienced across the region during recent years. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, below-average rainfall has been observed over southeast Australia during 22 of the last 26 autumns.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2017

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