March 2013 UK cold snap

[RayProudfoot]

My monthly lowest max for March was broken yesterday with 4.3C. It will be smashed today with a high of only 2.3C. Lowest wind chill too today with -7.9C.

I'm sure many will beat these. Remember 50 weeks ago? From 22-29 March 2012 my max never dropped below 16.3C and peaked at 21.7C on 26th and 27th.

[ironeagleuk]

My lowest Max for March was recorded on Monday with 1.5C

My Wind Chill temp for March was broken yesterday morning with -9C

[William Grimsley]

Newton Poppleford Weather broke two all time records, during the March 2013 UK cold snap:

Lowest Wind Chill Temperature -7.3°C 12/03/2013 00:55

Longest Dry Period 14 days 06/03/2013

[RayProudfoot]

11 March 2013 was the coldest March day in the UK since 1986!

[RayProudfoot]

Looks like I spoke too soon when I talked about bad weather in March. Even though we're in the last 10 days of the month a substantial amount of snow is due to arrive in this part of the country in the next few hours.

Not just here though. Most of central and northern England will be snow-covered in the next 24 hours. It's been a strange year so far and shows no signs of changing anytime soon.

My coldest March in 4 years of recording and probably for much longer than that historically. Global warming? Can I have some please?

[mikechristelow]

Lowest wind chill: -15.9 at 0138 March 11 2013
Lowest Max: -0.2 at 1550 January 16 2013

After the wettest December I can recall (278.2mm) and me thinking it'd be nice if it stayed dry, I'm now looking forward to the point when it actually feels warm again (you remember "warm", don't you?).

Funny business, weather these days.

[nking]

Funny business, weather these days.

It sure is, I remember 1963.....

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[RayProudfoot]

The madness of this March continues. Yesterday saw the lowest temperature this winter (-4.8C) except March isn't winter! Coldest night since 8 Feb 2012 and this March is now 2.9C lower than the average for the month.

[water01]

Indeed, and it is not over yet!! Looking at my historic graphs only 8 days out of the 29 recorded so far has the lowest temperature been above zero, with coldest being the 14th at -5.8C.

Of those 8 days 3 did not go above 1.0C and my highest low was 7.5C on the 7th which now seems positively balmy!!

As you say this is March, not Jan/Feb, and personally I am sick of the sight of it, but the forecast into April doesn't look much better!!

[steve]

We're having fabulous weather here for Easter. OK, it's not "hot", but we don't expect that, but we're having lots of sunshine and light winds.

[nking]

We're having fabulous weather here for Easter. OK, it's not "hot", but we don't expect that, but we're having lots of sunshine and light winds.

Steve - I can almost sense a little smugness in your post..... I'm suffering from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) but putting on a brave face

[RayProudfoot]

Indeed, and it is not over yet!! Looking at my historic graphs only 8 days out of the 29 recorded so far has the lowest temperature been above zero, with coldest being the 14th at -5.8C.

You're far colder down south than here although my garden is in a mini-warm spot as it's surrounded on 3 sides by houses. I have recorded 15 nights in March frost-free.

Of those 8 days 3 did not go above 1.0C and my highest low was 7.5C on the 7th which now seems positively balmy!!

Of my 15 days without a night frost only on two occasions did the mercury fail to rise above 3C. My highest minimum was 5.9 on the 7th.

As you say this is March, not Jan/Feb, and personally I am sick of the sight of it, but the forecast into April doesn't look much better!!

I am too. It's not the lack of sunshine - we've had lots - but the depressingly low daytime temps. I did record a max of 14.1C back on the 5th but that seems a lifetime ago.

You watch! It will go from winter to summer in less than 3 weeks. Spring is cancelled this year!

Steve, All that water protects you from the worst temperature fluctuations. Not having your hair blown off your head must be nice though!

[water01]

Spoke to soon went down to -6.1C last night!!

[RayProudfoot]

Now that March has ended here are some stats for this station.

Average temp 3.6C (Dec 4.9, Jan 4.4, Feb 3.8C). That makes March 2013 colder than any of the winter months. Is this a first? March 1963 was colder than 2013 but the winter then was particularly harsh.

Only 1.07" of rain recorded. This makes March the driest month of the year over the 4 years I have been recording weather. Only 4.6" have been recorded in 4 March's.

Is it too early to create a cold April thread?

[mikechristelow]

An average temperature of 3.9 here for March, with a low of -2.7 and a high of 10.9.
This compares with an average of 9.3, low of 2.2 and high of 18.2 in March 2012. It has, however, apparently been wetter - but most of this is snow melt, of which there was none in 2012