MUCH of eastern Victoria and parts around Melbourne only recorded light falls, with weekly totals less than 10 mm to March 21.
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However, weekly totals increased towards the state's west with a large area recording more than 15 mm.
Birchip and Warracknabeal both had more the 50 mm and the highest weekly total was 71.0 mm at Patyah (Booroopki), north of Edenhope.
The autumn break has arrived at most sites in Victoria, much earlier than usual for parts of central and western Victoria, where it has occurred (using an autumn break definition of either at least 25 mm in 3 days, or 30 mm in 7 days, after March 1).
March-to-date has been wetter than average across most of north-western Victoria. Root zone soil moisture is above average across most of Victoria for this time of year.
High streamflows are likely during March-May at most forecast sites in eastern Victoria.
For April to June, south-west Victoria is likely to be drier than average, while East Gippsland is likely to be wetter than average, with no strong push towards wetter or drier than average conditions for the rest of the state.
The one-month outlook for April shows slightly increased chances of above average rainfall for large areas of Victoria but the outlook for May is neutral in most parts.
The rainfall outlooks are consistent with the current situation in the tropical Pacific Ocean. La Nina remains active but is past its peak.
Climate models suggest La Nina will decline during autumn, reaching neutral levels - neither La Nina nor El Nino - by late in the season. Even in decline, La Nina increases the chances of above-average autumn rainfall for eastern Australia.
Days are very likely to be warmer than average for parts of the coast during April to June, with chances gradually decreasing to around 50-50 in the far north-west and inland East Gippsland.
Nights are very likely (80 per cent chance) to be warmer along the coast and across Gippsland with chances reducing slightly in the north-west (around 70pc chance).
Dam levels remain high for March compared to recent years. Melbourne's water storage is 86.0pc full as of March 22.
Storage levels in the Murray-Darling Basin are 88.0pc full, up 35.8pc on the same time last year.
In the South East Coast (Victoria) division, water storage is 52.9pc full, compared with 34.6pc 12 months ago.
