The Bureau of Meteorology’s (BoM) latest long-range forecast for March to May is for warmer than-usual days and nights across most areas with neutral outlooks for the dairy regions. Rainfall has a 60 to 80% chance of being below median for the period for most of Victoria, north and east Tasmania as well as western and southern NSW.

High streamflows are likely for the majority of sites across the east coast of mainland Australia from February to April. El Niño is still active, however, it has less influence on rainfall during summer and autumn with the pacific ocean expected to return to neutral conditions during autumn. The Indian Ocean Dipole is neutral, however record global ocean temperatures are likely contributing to the forecast of unusually warm conditions.