While there were no very high or low temperatures, weekly mean temperatures were high. Warm spells through the second and fourth week-ends were about four degrees high.
There were nine rain days (twice the usual number for March), but none had more than 5 mm until the 30th. A rain front early that morning brought 39 mm.

Comparing March months

This month was very warm. It was like March in 2018 and 2016, but the nights were warmer. Both the mean minimum temperature (17.9°) and the monthly mean temperature (24.9°) were record high values for March in the 21st century.
It was not a dry month: values of all the moisture indicators were near normal. The (estimated) rainfall of 54.9 mm is very close to the long-term average of 53.4 mm. However, March rainfall at Manilla is strongly skewed, having many values just below the average and just a few values up to 240 mm above it. The median March rainfall is much lower: only 39 mm. This month’s total of 54.9 mm is at the 60th percentile: it is higher than 60% of all historic March rainfall values.

Drought

The on-going drought is reported in three posts, with three different kinds of graph:

• a line graph shows rainfall status in the last two months, with duration on the x-axis and severity on the y-axis;
• a contour graph shows 25 months sequentially on the x-axis, duration on the y-axis and severity by tints;
• a duration graph shows how shortages began and ended in the last 20 years, with time on the x-axis and duration on the y-axis.

 

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Data. A Bureau of Meteorology automatic rain gauge operates in the museum yard. From 17 March 2017, 9 am daily readings are published as Manilla Museum, Station 55312.  These reports use that rainfall data when it is available.  Since no 9 am readings have been recorded since August, I have substituted my non-standard gauge readings for all days.
All other data, including subsoil at 750 mm, are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.