Melbourne's hot, wet month marches into history
By THOMAS HUNTER
March 31, 2010 Hot and wet. That’s how the record books will remember Melbourne’s unseasonal March, the city’s hottest month in 36 years and its wettest in almost a decade, say meteorologists. Weatherzone.com.au‘s Samuel Terry said the wet weather set in early, with 37 millimetres falling in damaging showers over March 6 and 7. He said the torrential rain pushed the total monthly rainfall to 79 millimetres, almost 30 millimetres above the long term average. It was also the second wettest March since 1989. “There was plenty of moisture left over from the wet summer in Queensland and New South Wales,” said Mr Terry. “This moisture drifted south, enhancing any rainfall caused by normal weather systems such as fronts and troughs.” And if you had a month of broken sleep, it could have been the night-time heat – overnight lows were a full three degrees above the long term average. When the city’s daytime temperatures are factored in, Mr Terry said Melbourne sweated through its hottest March since 1974, and its third-warmest in 154 years. …
