A dry start punctuated by our hottest March day in over 50 years then torrential rain, and lots of it - it was certainly a wild opening to Autumn, 2023 in Orange.
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Here's a look at the numbers:
- Orange recorded 183.6mm of rain for March, 2023.
- The average amount of rainfall for March is 79.5mm.
- March, 2023 will go down as the city's sixth wettest in over 130 years of records.
- The 24-hour period to 9am on March 27 was our wettest day of the year so far, with 65.2mm recorded.
- March, 2023 was on track to be our driest since the turn of the millennium, with just 5.4mm recorded to March 22.
- The bulk of the month's rain fell in the final nine days of March, with 178.2mm falling from March 23 onwards.
- The maximum temperature for Orange on March 19 was 34.5 degrees Celsius, which marked the hottest March day in Orange since 1965.
The final week of March produced a genuine drenching for the region.
Summer-like storms hit the city on multiple occasions, with flash flooding recorded on March 22 and then again on March 26 as the heavens opened in the afternoons.
On each occasion, over 50mm of rain fell in quick succession.
It followed an unseasonably warm stretch of weather for Orange to kick off March as well, with March 19 almost hitting 35 degrees Celsius. On that day, Forbes hit 41.1 degrees Celsius to be the hottest place in the Central West.
That warm start to the month meant Orange's average temperature for March sat at 24.5 degrees, well up on the 22.6 degrees long term average to start Autumn.
That increase was representative of a nation wide trend which showed March, 2023 was one of Australia's warmest.
By and large, La Nia's demise brought drier and warmer weather to large parts of the country.
Australia's mean temperature last month was 1.11 degrees Celsius 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.
Looking ahead, the potential for El Nio 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, weatherzone.com indicates.
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Nick McGrath
Editor, Central Western Daily
Editor, Central Western Daily
