Summaries and Statistics for March 2013

[johnholmes]

March 2013 has to be one of the most unusual months for many of us for a long time.

For Cantley

The coldest month here since December 2010 and the first month since December 2010 with a mean below 4C makes a good headline

As of this month all my data comparisons in brackets are for my 17 years averages from 1 January 1997 and temperatures are in degrees C

At times there will be comments comparing these to the RAF Finningley data sheets from 1942-1995.

Mean temperature=3.3 (7.5):

Avge Max=5.8 (11.3) Highest Max=12.3 on 2^nd and lowest day time Max=0.8 on 23rd

Avge Min= (3.7) Lowest Min=-4.0 on 12^th and highest overnight value=5.2 on 8^th

It was the coldest March in 17 years here and only the March of 1969 was colder at RAF Finningley with 3.1, their 1962 March showed 3.3

Rainfall total was 39.0mm but no details are available as a fair amount of this was from melted snow, the wettest day looks to be 9^th with 10.0mm

There were 12 days with snow falling and 6 days lying compared to 4 and 1 respectively the highest figures again since December 2010. Snow lay on the ground for 4 consecutive days with a maximum fall of 5cm

Air frosts totalled 12; average=8 and ground frosts 23 (14).

There were 3 days with fog at 0900 and no thunder or hail (other than wintry type hail on 1 day).

A final comment is if the mean shows a difference of 4.2 what values might have occurred during the meteorological winter months with that type of anomaly? Answer

December= approximately 2C

January=0.8

February=1.3

A month to remember for its statistics as well as it persistent penetrating cold for a long time

[Summer Sun]

My March stats can be found here

It was cold and dull month other than that not much really we avoided the heavy snow falls in Darlo and rainfall was above average.

[SP1986]

March is historical this year, many records have been beaten, all cold based records.. to say they have been dropping like flies would be an understatement.. at the bottom are a list of records broken.

March generally started dry with chilly nights but mild days, in fact it was rather springlike.. you'd say March was fairly typical for the time of year.. the odd frosts, temperatures near or above 10C. From the period of the 10th to 13th, 3 nights of harsh frosts arose, harsh for March anyway, but this time temperatures took a tumble. In mid Month there was some heavy rain but soon after the drier weather came back, and with some nights escaping frost altogether. The 22nd was a notable day not only for suppressed daytime temperatures, but also some record breaking March snowfall, which having fell over the space of two days, culminated in some large totals.. in my case, 24cm of level snow. The days thereafter were cold, nights often held just above 0C due to cloud cover, however the easterly wind was a notable feature, which windchill temperature measured around -7C owing to the origins of the icy blast. From the 25th March, daytime temperature started responding to the strength of the sun, and although well below average, did feel fairly pleasant in shelter away from the light breeze. The nights however delivered some extraordinary temperatures for the time year including another record breaker on the 30th March. The month itself had very few precipitation days, but any rain, and snow amount that fell were fairly significant. All in all, an exceptional March for cold and snow, and historical locally, beating some very long standing records. The fallen records are indicated by by the mark *

The fallen records are based on my own 15 year record set.

Below are the statistics for my weather station during the month of March

Mean Maximum: 7.5C

Mean Minimum: -0.1C*

Overall Mean: 3.7C*

Monthly Rainfall total: 35.5mm

Rainfall days: 5 days

Max rainfall in one day: 11.9mm (16th March)

Total Snowfall: 24cm*

Snowfall Days (snow falling): 2 days

Max snowfall in one day: 21cm (22nd March)*

Highest daily maximum temperature: 11.4C (5th March)

Lowest daily maximum temperature: 1.5C (23rd March)*

Highest daily minimum temperature: 5.9C (8th March)

Lowest daily minimum temperature: -4.5C (30th March)*

Days with Ground Frost: 25*

Days with Air Frost: 16*

Days of falling snow: 2

Days of lying snow: 8*

Thunder days: 0

Temperature frequency breakdown

Maximum temperature:

0.0C to 4.9C: 4 days

5.0C to 9.9C: 23 days

10.0C to 14.9C: 4 days

Minimum temperature:

-5.0C to -0.1C: 16 days

0.0C to 4.9C: 13 days

5.0C to 9.9C: 2 days

Compared to the Colwyn Bay average (81-10 average = 7.2), my average comes in at 3.5C below the Colwyn Bay average, making it a well below average month

Notable Records Broken in March:

- Coldest mean minimum

- March overall mean

- Total snowfall

- Snowfall recorded in one day.

- Lowest daily March maxima.

- Lowest minima/all round March temperature.

- Most airfrost days recorded in March

- Most ground frost days recorded in March

- Days of lying snow

[TonyH]

^{Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales: March 2013}

Very cold and frosty; above average rainfall

Probably the coldest March locally since 1962, this was also the coldest month of Winter 2012/ 13! This in spite of a reading of 16c on the 5^th. High frequency of frost and sleet or snow, although the latter was in generally very small amounts. -10.2c the coldest night of the month, in itself not unusually low for this month. It would have been quite a dry month were it not for over two inches rain falling in 24 hours 21^st – 22^nd. The first fortnight had just 6mm following on from the very dry second half of February. No measurable rain during the last 9 days.

1^st – 5^th: Dry with sunny spells but frosty nights. Variable maxima from rather cold to very mild. Big variation on the very clear/ sunny 5^th from -5.5c to 16c.

6^th – 9^th: Mild and mostly cloudy with a little light rain and drizzle at times.

10^th – 14^th: Mostly dry and cold with sunny spells, and some snow flurries. Hard night frosts, -10.2c on the 14^th which then reached 8.4c.

15^th – 20^th: Rather cold and unsettled with rain or wintry showers and slight night frosts. Very heavy snow showers on the afternoon of the 16^th gave a 3cm covering and led to the latest day of snow lying since April 2008.

21^st – 31^st: Very cold/ cold: Heavy rain and strong winds 21^st and 22^nd with 53mm in 24 hours. Thereafter mainly dry bar the odd light snow flurry. Sunny spells with chilling east winds, air frost each night from the 24^th these severe at times, down to -8.4c 28^th.

Total rainfall: 95.3mm

Wettest day: 30.0mm 21^st

Rain days >0.2mm: 10

Wet days >1.0mm: 9

Days of heavy rain >10mm: 4

Mean temperature: 3.1c

Mean Max: 7.5c

Mean Min: -1.4c

High Max: 16.0c 5th

Low Max: 1.1c 24^th

High Min: 7.7c 7^th

Low Min: -10.2c 14^th

Air frost: 21

Ground frost: 20

Ice day (Max below 0c): 0

Mean RH: 80%

High RH: 98% 5^th

Low RH: 44% 31^st

Predominant wind direction: ENE

Mean pressure: 1008mbar

Max pressure: 1031mbar 1^st

Min pressure: 987mbar 18th

Days with:

Hail: 1

Gale: 0

Thunder: 0

Snow or sleet: 13

Snow lying 0900: 1

Fog: 1

Fog at 0900: 1

[Styx]

HOBART ( pop 210,000 ) is Tasmania's capital city, situated at sealevel and backed by a 1270m mountain range.

March - First month of autumn

This was easily Hobarts warmest March since records began in 1882, on the back of the hottest summer on record. The 1990 record was smashed by 0.8C, with an average maximum the third highest on record and the average minimum tieing for highest place. Near record temperatures were set for daily maximum and daily minimum after a prolonged period of above average temperatures during the first half of the month. From mid March, a more mobile weather pattern developed with fronts and low pressure moving in from the west. This made this month the wettest since September, after a string of very dry months. At the the end of the month, an intense high pressure system was moving in from the west, assuring another lengthy period of settled weather with a proggressively increasing temperature trend, an unusual repititive setup, now in play for several months.

This was the 17th consecutive month with above average temperature ( 1981-2010 comparison ), this month having the greatest anomoly of the 17.

Average maximum: 22.9 ( +2.5 )

Average minimum: 13.5 ( +2.2 )

Rainfall: 49mm ( average 45mm )

Daily temperature extremes for March ( Records since 1882 )

Highest maximum: 36.6 ( Record 37.3 in 2008 )

Lowest maximum: 16.2 ( Record 8.9 in 1925 )

Highest minimum: 20.5 ( Record 21.1 in 1906 )

Lowest minimum: 8.4 ( Record 1.8 in 1926 )

[leehws]

March 2013 - Colwyn Bay

Temperature -

Mean – 2.9C

Mean Maximum – 6.9C (-3.4)

Mean Minimum - -0.6C (-4.7)

Maximum – 10.1C (15th)

Minimum - -6.1C (29th)

Lowest Maximum – 1.9C (24th)

Highest Minimum – 6.1C (8th)

Rain -

Total Rainfall – 68.0mm (118.3%)

Wettest Day - 22nd – 17.2mm

Rain Days -14

Wind -

Highest Gust - 17mph (10th)

Average Speed – 0.8mph

[MP-R]

For Madrid, I will share the comments I have put in my diary for each day. I was not there from the 1st-3rd:

Mon 04th: Cloudy and dry a.m., light to heavy rain during the p.m. and overnight 12C

Tue 05th: Heavy rain on and off all day, not much wind and mild 12C

Wed 06th: Sunny intervals and heavy, squally showers, windy especially p.m. 12C

Thu 07th: Frequent heavy showers with thunder and hail; impressive thunderstorm at 6.30pm 13C

Fri 08th: Cloudy with intermittent light rain a.m.; heavy persistent rain p.m. 11C

Sat 09th: Showers early a.m. then sunny intervals and quite windy after 10am 14C

Sun 10th: Sunny intervals and heavy showers all day; very windy p.m. 12C

Mon 11th: Mostly clear and sunny but windy and cooler 9C

Tue 12th: Sunny with light cloud; quite pleasant with no wind 13C

Wed 13th: Rain a.m., clearing with wintry showers and wind p.m. 6C

Thu 14th: Frost. Sunny and clear all day 10C

Fri 15th: Frost. Sunny, clear and quite warm p.m. 14C

Sat 16th: Light rain at times a.m. then cloudy but dry p.m. 12C

Sun 17th: Cloudy with drizzle a.m.; increasingly heavy and persistent rain p.m. 10C

Mon 18th: Sunny intervals but windy 12C

Tue 19th: Light cloud and some sun a.m.; light to heavy rain p.m. 13C

Wed 20th: Sunny with light, fast-moving clouds; windy 14C

Thu 21st: Sunny and clear a.m.; increasing high cloud p.m.; quite warm 16C

Fri 22nd: Heavy rain a.m.; cloudy with intermittent light rain and drizzle p.m. 13C

Sat 23rd: Sunny intervals but very windy; showers after dark 14C

Sun 24th: Sunny a.m.; very heavy showers p.m. with hail, thunder and lightning locally 12C

Mon 25th: Dull and cloudy with intermittent light rain all day 11C

Tue 26th: Heavy rain on and off all day with strong winds 11C

Wed 27th: Cloudy and windy with showers, especially p.m. 13C

Thu 28th: Sunny and clear! Quite warm but still windy 15C

Fri 29th: Heavy rain and very low cloud a.m.; clearing with sunshine and very strong wind p.m. 13C

Sat 30th: Sunny and mild with patchy light cloud; much calmer 14C

Sun 31st: Sunny a.m.; increasinc cloud p.m. with moderate to heavy rain after dark 13C

All in all, a cool, wet month in Madrid with below-average sunshine and a high prevalence of strong winds. On the plus side, it's very green now.

[Stargazer]

Looks like a typical (if wet) March in Reading, MHR Will post my stats in the next couple of days when I've collated my manual data into a spreadsheet.

[johnholmes]

Looks like a typical (if wet) March in Reading, MHR Will post my stats in the next couple of days when I've collated my manual data into a spreadsheet.

got an excel spreadshseet if you would like to use that?

[Terminal Moraine]

It seems, having looked back through a number of local records, that the last March which was significantly colder than 2013 in this area was in 1883 although both March 1962 and 1969 were about equal to it.

The maximum of -2.1c on the 11th was the lowest in March since my records began in 1963 and the minimum of -5.6c on the same date was the lowest for the month since 1986. The low temperatures were accompanied by a near gale force NE wind gusting to 56 mph resulting in severe wind chill.

It was the snowiest March in my 50 years of records and the accumulated snowfall of 54.8cm was the most in any calendar month since Jan' 1986. The maximum level depth of 41 cm on the 24th was the most on record in March and the snow was accompanied by strong to gale force NE/E winds resulting in most local roads being blocked by drifts 1 to 3m deep at least temporarily and in some cases for several days.

The persistence of lying snow after the main event seems to be unrivalled at this time of year since at least 1916 when records indicate that the High Peak Railway was closed for the entire month of March due to heavy snowfall.

23 days with sleet and snow falling this March is the most for any month except Jan' 1985 which recorded 24 and 18 mornings with lying snow is the most in March since my records began in 1963. There were 22 consecutive days with sleet or snow falling from the 9th-30th, easily beating the old record of 15 days.

It was the wettest March since 2008 and the dullest since 2005.

Temperature

Mean max'....................2.9c ( -4.6c )

Mean min'....................-1.4c ( -3.1c )

Highest max...................9.1c ( 5th )

Lowest max.................-2.1c ( 11th )

Lowest min..................-5.6c ( 11th )

Highest min...................2.7c ( 8th )

Rainfall

Total for month..............91.6mm ( 107% )

Wettest day ..................24.1 mm ( 22nd )

Rain days ( 0.2 mm or more)....18

Wet days ( 1.0 mm or more )....11

Sunshine

Total for month...........67.43 hrs ( 70% )

Sunniest day.................9.10 hrs ( 5th )

Sunless days..................8

No' of Air frosts...............24

No' of Ground frosts........26

Days with Sleet/Snow falling.....23

Snow lying at 0900..............18

Maximum depth................41 cm on 24th

Days with Hail....................9

Days with Thunder............0

Days with Fog at 0900.....10

Mean wind speed at 0900...14.8 mph

Maximum Gust...................56 mph ( 11th, 25th )

[johnholmes]

what it is to live at altitude in the Peak District, mind you I know you love it TM.

I spent some time talking to a farmer in Wardlow on Sunday. He felt conditions there, 6-8ft of snow piled at each side of the road and around much of his house and farmyard, as bad as any March and even pushing some winter months.

The fields at that level were about 50-60% covered with many walls not visible, a bit higher up and the cover increased to around 80% towards Gt Hucklow with some roads only just passable through snow over 8ft deep in places. It was also clear where the snow blower had been through several times with different marks in the drifts showing. I might add I only went that far as another farmer said 'follow me' he was taking feed for sheep in some higher fields and then returning!

I helped chuck a few bales of straw into this field.

Neither of them seemed to have lost any sheep or lambs which seemed surprising given the conditions then and what they muct have been like the previous weekend.

[Stargazer]

My statistics for central Reading in March 2013:

(and thanks to JH for the offer of a spreadsheet - I actually collate the figures from my daily reports, which requires some effort at the end of the month. One day I'll get around to entering my stats each day )

Here goes...

Average maximum: 7.2

Average minimum: 0.7

Average for month: 4.0

Highest maximum: 16.5 (March 5)

Lowest maximum: 1.0 (24) - the lowest March maximum recorded since I moved here in 2002

Highest minimum: 7.3 (7)

Lowest minimum: -4.8 (19) - along with March 3 (-4.7) the coldest minima since February 2012.

Air frosts: 14

Rainfall: no data available for this site; Reading University shows around 80mm for the month, which is around 190% of average.

Sunshine: no data available for this site; Reading University shows around 75 hours for the month, which is around 70% of average.

Days with snow falling: 5

Days with snow lying: 1

As with the rest of the UK, an exceptionally cold month, with both maxima and minima around 3-4 deg C lower than the long-term average - and dull and wet too. Unusually for a spring month, last month started mild and got progressively colder. Rainfall was concentrated in three relatively short sharp spells so the month generally seemed dry and cloudy even though rainfall was well above average. The overnight minima on the 3rd and 19th were lower than the whole of winter 2012-13. Unlike many parts of the UK Reading saw very little snow, with a light dusting on the morning of the 10th just enough to qualify as a day with lying snow; otherwise there were no more than a few snowflakes in the wind on several days.

[reef]

Hedon, East Yorkshire.

March 2013

Warmest Max: 9.6°C (on 02/03/13) - Coldest Since 1996

Coldest Max: 2.2°C (on 11/03/13) - Coldest Since 1996

Warmest Min: 4.9°C (on 07/03/13) **

Coldest Min: -2.3°C (on 14/03/13)

Average Max: 5.5°C (-4.1°C Below 1981-2010 Average) **

Average Min: 0.9°C (-2.7°C Below 1981-2010 Average) **

Overall Average: 3.2°C (-3.4°C Below 1981-2010 Average) **

Rain: 51.4mm (107% Of Normal)

Wettest Day: 9th (13.2mm)

Sunshine: 77 hours (69% Of Normal)

Air Frosts: 9

Sleet/Snow Falling: 14 days

Snow lying at 0900: 5 days

Dry Days: 8

Wet Days: 23

Days With Rain >1.0mm: 12

Days With Rain >10mm: 2

Thunder Days: 0

Days With Fog: 4

Year 2013 So Far (Jan - Mar)

Warmest Max: 13.1°C (on 29/01/13)

Coldest Max: -0.1°C (on 16/01/13)

Warmest Min: 9.5°C (on 03/01/13)

Coldest Min: -8.3°C (on 17/01/13)

Average Max: 5.8°C (-2.0°C Below Running 1981-2010 Average)

Average Min: 1.5°C (-1.2°C Below Running 1981-2010 Average)

Overall Average: 3.7°C (-1.6°C Below Running 1981-2010 Average)

Rain: 131.0mm (87% Of Normal)

Wettest Day: 09/03/13 (13.2mm)

Sunshine: 227 hours (91% Of Normal)

Air Frosts: 23

Sleet/Snow Falling: 37 days

Snow lying at 0900: 18 days

Dry Days: 26

Wet Days: 64

Days With Rain >1.0mm: 33

Days With Rain >10mm: 3

Thunder Days: 1

Days With Fog: 9

** Denotes Coldest On Record

The coldest and snowiest March in 34 years of records. It was also the wettest since 2008 and dullest since 2005. It was only the second March on record not to achieve a temperature of 10°C and with February only the second time two consecutive months have failed to reach double figures. The month was notable in that every single day had a mean temperature below the monthly average of 6.6°C. The closest being 6.5°C on the 16th. Unusually for a warming month, the first half (3.6°C) was less cold than the second (2.9°C).

The first week was cool and dull with fog overnight as high pressure centred itself over the near continent. Following a very wet day on the 9th a potent north-easterly brought 6 consecutive days with sunshine and snow showers and three consecutive mornings with snow lying at 0900. The 11th was the coldest day with a max temp of 2.2°C and a mean temperature of 0.0°C. Mid-month then saw a brief less-cold period with frequent rain as low pressure sat over the UK. This was short-lived however as easterly winds returned for the final 13 days giving generally cloudy conditions with occasional snow flurries. The period 22nd-28th saw the temperature remain below 4.9°C throughout but frosts were rare this close to the east coast due to a keen onshore breeze.

Overall a very interesting month to experience and exceptional in that since January 1987 only five months have been colder.

[hillbilly]

met office bradford[my nearest] gives 1.9 average for march just beating 1962[2.0]..

interesting that air frosts for entire season[oct to may] give 65 to march31 equal to 1985/1986 with april and may to come so having most air frosts since 1978/79[86]

[Bobby]

Met Office anomaly maps for March shows a very cold month indeed

Rainfall generally below average in the N and W but average/above average further S and E.