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Today, 1:52AM UTC
March equinox has arrived – here's what to expect
The 2025 March equinox has arrived, marking the Sun’s transition to the Northern Hemisphere sky as the Southern Hemisphere embarks on six months of more darkness than daylight. What is the equinox? Earth experiences two equinoxes each year, one in late March and the other towards the end of September. On both occasions, the equinox marks the date on which the Sun appears to be positioned directly above Earth’s equator. Following the equinox, the sun appears to move over either the Northern or Southern Hemispheres from the perspective of someone standing at the equator. Image: Orientation of the Sun relative to Earth on the dates of the equinoxes. This year’s March equinox occurs at 09:02am UTC on March 20, which is 8:02pm in Sydney, 5:02am in New York, 9:02am in London and 2:32pm in Mumbai. Following the moment of the March equinox, the Sun will appear to be positioned north of Earth’s equator (for someone standing at the equator). This makes nights become longer than days in the Southern Hemisphere based on the amount of time between sunrise and sunset each day, while days will become longer than nights in the Northern Hemisphere. Change of seasons While the equinox has no direct influence on day-to-day weather across the planet, it does mark a seasonal transition for both hemispheres. The March equinox marks the start of the astronomical autumn in the Southern Hemisphere and the astronomical spring in the Northern Hemisphere. This is about three weeks later than the beginning of the meteorological autumn and spring, which are more aligned to average temperature trends and begin at the start of the month each equinox occurs in. Most countries around the world use equinox dates to mark the start of autumn and spring, including the United States and the United Kingdom. However, some countries declare the start of each season based on the meteorological season dates, including Australia and New Zealand. So, while Australia farewelled summer and commenced autumn three weeks ago, those in the US are officially kicking off their spring today.
19 Mar 2025, 11:52PM UTC
Coober Pedy has had more rain than Adelaide this year
It took just 7.4mm of rain on Wednesday afternoon to push the running rainfall total for 2025 in the iconic outback opal town of Coober Pedy above Adelaide’s total for the year. Coober Pedy is located on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert, around 850km northwest of Adelaide. As of 9am this Thursday, March 20: Coober Pedy had received 14.2mm of rain across six separate rain days in 2025 (days with 0.2mm or more). By contrast, Adelaide’s meagre running total for 2025 was just 8.2mm across four rain days. Image: Combined satellite and radar image showing the Wednesday afternoon storm activity in the vicinity of Coober Pedy, SA. The good news for Adelaide residents whose lawns have turned to dust, and whose city water storage levels are down to 39%, is that rain is falling this Thursday morning. After 1.6mm fell just before 9am, rain has continued in Adelaide into Thursday morning as a trough crosses South Australia, with a further 4.4mm to 10am (ACDT). Image: Two-hour radar loop up to 9:30am (ACDT) showing rainfall in southeast SA and nearby areas on Thursday, March 20, 2025. By the end of the day, Adelaide’s running yearly tally could conceivably exceed Coober Pedy’s. That would take a Thursday total of at least 6.2mm (or another 2.2mm on top of what fell between 9am and 10am). It’s no huge milestone for Adelaide to overtake the running annual rainfall total of an arid outback outpost whose annual average rainfall is just 145.7mm (compared to Adelaide’s 525.8mm), but any rain is useful in the SA state capital at the moment. READ MORE: Adelaide's driest summer in 33 years
19 Mar 2025, 5:08AM UTC
Long period swell impacts NSW
A series of very long period swells will bring deceptively powerful waves to NSW's coastline. A very active period with powerful low pressure systems crossing well to the south of Australia over the past weekend and early week have generated very large waves thousands of kilometres south of the continent. Image: Satellite loop of powerful lows well to the south of Australia on Monday, March 17. As seen in the figures below, significant wave heights exceeding 10 metres were generated on Monday, March 17, over 3000 kilometres away from NSW. The US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite altimeters verified this data with wave heights of 11 metres recorded in the region. Image: DTN's OneFX Significant Wave Height forecast on Monday, March 17, afternoon. Most of this energy will be sent due east, towards New Zealand's South Island and into the South Pacific. However, some of the energy will radiate north, lapping into parts of the Australian coastline. In the 3000 kilometres journey to NSW, the swell height will dramatically flatten, but the swell period will lengthen significantly. The first of these long period swells filtered into NSW and the Sydney region this morning, on Wednesday, March 19. The plot below shows a number of different swells in the water, with a peak period of 14-15 seconds. Image: Directional Spectrum swell analysis for Sydney on the morning of Wednesday, March 19, with a dominant swell from the south with a peak period of 14 seconds. Source: Manly Hydraulics Laboratory This initial groundswell will ease in period to about 12-13 seconds on Thursday. A reinforcing groundswell should filter into the region on Thursday morning with a period of 17-19 seconds. Why period matters? While each swell train should only have average heights of about 0.5 metres, the wave power of an 18 second period wave is double that of a wave with a period of 9 seconds. Along with that, the longer period swell ‘feels’ the ocean bottom four times deeper than the 9 second swell. This allows the waves to turn into the coast at a much deeper depth through the process of refraction, impacting the coast more head on, as seen in the figure below. Image: graphic showing how various swell periods interact with the ocean floor at different depths. On the beaches, the distant nature of these swells will lead to big lulls with generally calm ocean conditions. Every 10-15 minutes, abnormally large waves will break across the coast. The size of these waves will not be huge, but surf riders may find inconsistent head high waves at surf spots exposed to the south. Stronger rips may also suddenly form as swimmers enjoy the warm and mostly sunny conditions.