Rain in Sydney?
 

Want to visit Sydney and New Zealand in March. While we're told that March is a great month to visit NZ, it's the rainiest month of the year in Sydney. Is that true, and if so, will sightseeing be problematic? Also, what's not to miss in Sydney, and for that matter, what's not to miss in NA?

When my husband and I went to Sydney in early May a few years ago it rained every day. And I'm not talking about showers, either. Parts of the city were flooded and people we talked to in shops said they were shorthanded because people couldn't get to work. We still went to the zoo and did a tour of the harbor via ferry, although we didn't do the bridge climb. I'm sure we would have had more fun if the weather had been good, but I don't think of the vacation negatively because it rained.

Sydney gets on average 13 mm of rainfall in March, on the high side (monthly average across the year is 9.4 mm and the lowest rainfall is 5 mm in September, so the difference isn't huge). For the record the average temperature ranges from 17 to 25, so think warm and humid.

13 mm in a month obvioiusly doesn't mean that it buckets down all day, every day. How long do you plan to be in Sydney?

As everyone's idea of a must-see differs it might be best if you consult a guide book, and/or Sydney tourism websites and past threads on the forum (use the 'search' box above), then come back with some more specific questions. Not much point recommending the bridge climb if you suffer from extreme vertigo, for instance.

Was in Sinny in March for the last two years, hardly rained at all. But statistics mean little, when mother nature has to go she has to go, and she goes.

WK

Oh my...Neil thinks 17 to 25 degrees celsius is "warm and humid"!!! That is 62 to 77 degrees Farenheit and for me that is a long, long way from warm and humid. I know Neil lives in Australia and I've just visited a few times so maybe my experiences have been aberrations....I've been to Sydney 5 times and twice in March. I often felt cold in March but in the late afternoon in the sun it was nice. I don't remember much rain either time in March though. What makes a comfortable temperature is so individual. Personally I'd say to think "warm and humid" for Cairns in March, but wouldn't apply that to my experience in Sydney.

Just to correct Neil's post - Sydney averages 130mm in March, not 13mm. March is still a very good month to visit, likely to be much more sun than rain.

Agree with you LynAK, wouldn't call Sydney in March warm and humid either and lived there most of my life. Its usually a lovely month though, the first month of autumn with a certain crispness in the air some days.

OK, OK, I blundered. Sorry for the bum steer - I just rechecked Weatherbase and it lists rainfall in CENTIMETRES of all things. Please adjust all my numbers by one decimal point. In future I'll take more care to read the fine print. Of course, if I'd been awake I'd have realised that 13mm is way too dry, but I wasn't. So there.

LynAK, it's all relative, isn't it? To a Canberran who hates humidity (which is one of many reasons why I'm not a "Sydneysider" any more), a moist 25 is my idea of the upper register of comfort.

Yes it is all relative....last Christmas my husband gave me a John Williamson CD "Gunyah" and in the song for which the CD is titled there is the story of a family living somewhere on the York Peninsula and a line in the song goes:
"ooh she said, it's getting cold, it's 25 degrees!"
I can so relate to that!

Hi, Gerrie, March may be our wettest month, but it's still not that wet! I attach a link to our Bureau of Meteorology website which shows you all the averages for rain, temperature etc. Go to: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averag...w_066062.shtml
I hope that helps!
All the best from down under!
Philip Holland

Sydey's weather is pretty much equivalent to Los Angeles with reversed seasons.