Weather statistics compiled by the college's weather recorder Brett Allender show that the March rainfall total of 3.4mm is the lowest since the 2.4mm recorded in 2015.

The highest daily rainfall for March 2019 was received on Monday, March 11, with 1.8mm recorded at the college.

It is the fifth time, Mr Allender said, in the past seven years that March rainfall has been less than 10mm.

Mr Allender said that March is historically the driest month of the year, with a long-term average of just 22.6mm since 1889.

So far, 2019 has produced 34.6mm of rainfall, with 29.2mm of it falling on one day - February 7.

"This is less than half of the long-term average of 70.2mm for the first three months of the year," Mr Allender said.

The March average maximum temperature of 27.9 degrees was 1.5 degrees above average.

Statistics at the college show that this is the fourth year in a row that March maximums have been above the long-term average.

The hottest March day occurred on Friday, March 1, with the temperature gauge at Longerenong College hitting 39.1 degrees. The highest minimum temperature was recorded on Sunday, March 3, with 21.0 degrees.

The period of February 24 to March 4 produced nine consecutive maximum temperatures above 35 degrees.

This warm spell equalled the previous record set during the period from February 28 to March 8, 1989.