Swimmers in Sydney watch the sun rise over the south Curl Curl rock pool. March 2013 overall was hotter than February, something that has happened only 17 times in the past 100 years. Photo: James Brickwood

25 March 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Sydney is on target for its hottest week since January and hottest March week in a decade, with an average maximum temperature of about 29 degrees. The city has already begun its unusually warm week. On Friday, the mercury rose to 31.8, 6 degrees above the long-term monthly average and the first 30-degree day since January. Between now and Thursday, maximum temperatures will range from about 27 degrees to about 30, helped along by plenty of sunshine and northerly winds almost every day. For March to have this much warmth for this long is about a once-in-a-decade event. If the forecasts are correct, it will be the hottest March week since 2002, when the average maximum was 29.6. It will come as no surprise that March overall is almost certain to end up being hotter than February, something that has happened only 17 times in the past 100 years. [more]

Summer in the city carries on into autumn in once-in-a-decade event