Royston (Iceni) Weather Station

Daily Weather Observations - March 2008

It was a very wet March in Royston, with temperatures and sunshine not far from normal.

It is perhaps ironic that the first snowfall of the ‘Winter’ season occurred just after the Spring equinox on Easter Day, 23rd March! On this day a level cover of 3 cm snow covered the Royston area at the 0900 GMT but this snowfall had largely thawed by the end of the day. Snow fell on 3 other days (4^th, 22^nd and 24^th) in the month but did not settle.

Total rainfall in March was 78.2 millimetres, which is 184% of the 1971/2000 average. It was the wettest March since 2001, with all the intervening years having a drier than average March. The wettest day of the month was 15^th with 22.0 millimetres rainfall. This was the wettest March day since 2^nd March 1995 when rainfall of 30.1 millimetres was recorded.

The number of "rain days" (0.2 millimetres or more) in March was 19, whilst on 15 of these days rainfall equalled or exceeded 1.0 millimetre. Hail was observed to fall on 3 days (17^th, 22^nd and 27^th) in the month. Rainfall duration in March was 69.3 hours.

As regards temperatures the normal rising trend at this time of the year was reversed and the second half of the month was actually 2°C colder than the first half, although the lowest minimum and grass minimum temperatures of the month had occurred on 5^th. These were –2.5°C and –7.8°C respectively.

The highest temperature recorded in March was 14.7°C on 30^th. This was the lowest absolute maximum temperature in March since 1996, and before that 1988.

The mean daily maximum temperature in March was 10.1°C, which is 0.3°C below the 30 Year (1976/2005) average. The mean night minimum temperature of 3.2°C was similarly 0.3°C below average. Totals of 5 air frosts and 10 ground frosts were recorded in March. The air frost duration over the whole month was 49.8 hours.

The mean earth (30 cms depth) temperature as recorded at 0900 GMT daily was 6.9°C, reaching a highest value of 8.4°C on 16^th and a lowest value of 5.7°C on 5^th.

Total sunshine in March was 117.5 hours, which is 110% of the 1971/2000 average. Despite being a little above average this amount is 60 hours below the March 2007 figure (and 80 hours below March 2003!).

The first half of the month was sunnier than the second half despite the sunniest day of the month being on 30^th (10.5 hours sunshine). Sunshine for the period 1^st/15^th was 70.8 hours and for 16^th/31^st 46.7 hours. Only 1 day (16^th) in the month was completely sunless.

March commenced with a gale on 1^st and two further gales occurred before mid-month. The highest daily (00/00 GMT) mean wind speed of 17.8 mph occurred on 12^th, with a maximum gust speed of 60 mph being recorded on this day. However, the highest wind gust speed of the month was 62 mph on both 1^st and 11^th. The lowest daily mean wind speed in March was 1.5 mph on 26^th.

The analysis of daily wind directions at 0900 GMT shows a strong bias towards winds with a westerly component, as follows: NORTH 4 days, NE 1, E 0, SE 2, S 4, SW 5, W 10, NW 5 and CALM 0.

The mean MSL air pressure in March was very low at 1003.3 mB, which is 12 mB below the 30 Year (1976/2005) average. The highest and lowest air pressure values in March were 1034 mB and 958 mB on 5^th and 10^th respectively.

The mean relative humidity in the month was 82.8%. The highest daily (00/00 GMT) mean relative humidity was 95.1% on 23^rd, whilst the lowest daily mean was 67.2% on 12^th. The absolute lowest relative humidity reading in March was 36% at 1525 GMT on 30^th.

Fog (visibility < 1000 metres) was observed on 1 day (31^st) in March at the 0900 GMT observation hour.

Met. Observer, Royston (Iceni) Weather Station

8^th April 2008

Royston Crow (Corvus Cornix)

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