2019 March weather bucks norm with higher temperatures and rainfall but three-month outlook to June does not look good

Australia was 2.13 degrees above its monthly average, hitting a mean high of 27.7 degrees.

Wagga also registered an average temperature of 27.7 degrees over the month, which is its average March total.

However, a top of 37.6 degrees on March 4 was unusually above recent year's totals.

The last time Wagga felt temperatures that high in March was in 1983 when the mercury rose to 39.5 degrees.

Unusually cold weather at the weekend just gone contributed to lowering the monthly temperature index.

Saturday reached on 14.9 degrees in Wagga, more than 10 degrees below the monthly projection.

Owing to cyclone activity in the tropics, nationally, rainfall was above average for most parts of eastern Australia.

Similarly so in Wagga. Total falls of up to 67.0mm in March was well above the average monthly 43.5mm.

April now brings a new three-month outlook and more hope for drought relief.

Over the end of autumn and into winter, the temperatures are predicted to be slightly higher than in previous years.

But with a neutral El Nino/La Nina registering over the Indian Ocean, it is still too early to tell whether the cooler months will bring higher rainfall.