Cold and Wet

Temperatures

The average maximum temperature during March 2018 in Shoreham was 8.9 Celsius (48F), and that was around 1 degree Celsius (1.8F) below normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 3.6 Celsius (39F), and that was  also about 1 degree Celsius (3.5F) below  the March normal.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 14.2 Celsius (58F) on the 27th, but there was only 1  other day with a maximum above 13 Celsius (55F), and that was the 11th when 13.1 Celsius (55F) was measured. There was a total of 15 days when the temperature rose above 10 Celsius (50F), with a further 5 days when 9 Celsius (48F) was exceeded. There were 2 notable cold snaps during March. The first, was a continuation of the cold weather experienced at the end of February, and on the 1st a maximum of only 0.5 Celsius (33F) was recorded. This appears to be the coldest March day locally since 1986. The following day was only a shade less cold at 1.1  Celsius (34F), but on the 3rd it was much milder at 8.4 Celsius (47F). The onset of the second cold snap was unusually sudden.  After a maximum  of 12.5 Celsius (55F) on the 16th, the high was only 2.6 Celsius (37F) on the 17th, and even colder at 1.1 Celsius (34F) on the 18th. The chill continued into the 19th, when 1.6 Celsius (35F) was measured, but Spring sunshine on the 20th lifted the temperature to a more seasonable 9.4 Celsius (49F).

There were very few mild nights during March, with the highest temperatures generally occurring between the middle of the second week and mid month. On the night of the 9th/10th the temperature only dropped to 8.3 Celsius (47F), and between the 10th and 16th there were 3 other nights when the temperature stayed above 7 Celsius (45F). The only other night with a minimum above 7 Celsius (45F) was the 24th/25th. On most nights (16) the temperature fell to between 2 and 6 Celsius (36-43F), but the cold snaps unsurprisingly produced some much colder nights. On the first night of the month a minimum of minus 4.3 Celsius (24F) occurred, and on the 20th/21st a low of minus 1.7 Celsius (29F) was measured.

The sea temperature was around  6  Celsius (43F)  for much of the month, rising to 7  Celsius (45F) at the end of March.

Frost

There were 6 air frosts in central  Shoreham during March, about 4 above average. They were confined to 2 short spells, namely the first 2 nights of the month, and the 4 consecutive nights beginning on the 17th/18th. On 3 of the 6 nights the temperature only fell to between minus 1 and 0 Celsius (30-32F), but an often penetrating,  low relative humidity, wind, added to the severity of the frosts. There were 12 grass frosts in March.  The 6 that coincided with the air frosts were joined by 6 others scattered through the month. On 6 of the nights, the grass temperature fell below minus 2 Celsius (28F), but only 2 of these nights had grass minima below minus 3 Celsius (27F). The first night of the month had a low of minus 5.0 Celsius (23F), but the coldest night of the month was the 20th/21st with a grass temperature of minus 6.7 Celsius (20F).  

Rain

There were 81.6 millimetres (3.2 ins.) of rain during March and that was almost double  the monthly average. Rain fell on 25 days, about 9 days above what one would expect at this time of year, and wet days ( rainfall of 1 millimetre (0.04 ins) or more)  amounted to 21 days.  Measurable rain fell on the first 12 days of March, but daily totals were fairly small, with the highest being 4.0 millimetres (0.15 ins.) on the 3rd, and 4.8 millimetres (0.2 ins.) on the 12th. The 13th was dry, but the 14th was the wettest day of the month, with heavy rain in the evening and overnight amounting to 16.6 millimetres (0.65 ins.). There was no measurable precipitation between the 19th and 21st, but then the 25th was the only completely dry day during the remainder of the month. Some of the rain was heavy during the last week, with daily totals of 6.8 millimetres (0.3 ins.), 7.2 millimetres (0.3 ins.) and 5.2 millimetres (0.2 ins.) on the 28th, 29th and 30th respectively.

*A rain day is from 0900-0900 UTC

Snow

Sleet or snow fell on 5 days during March, with lying snow observed on 5 mornings. There were 2 centimetres (<1 in.) of lying snow on  the morning of the 1st and light snow or snow grains fell for much of the day. In the evening, there was sleet and freezing rain and this continued overnight and through much of the morning of the 2nd . This helped to reduce the snow depth to 1 centimetres (0.5 ins.). Snow late in the morning freshened up the snow cover, and although no further snow fell during this episode, there was still lying snow on the following morning. Sleet fell mid morning on the 17th, this soon turning to snow and then lasting for most of the day. Snow in the early hours of the 18th produced 4 centimetres (<2 ins.) of lying snow by mid morning, with further snow falling late afternoon and during the evening.  Very light snow fell on the morning of the 19th, by which time the snow depth had decreased to 2 centimetres (<1 in.) . No more snow fell during the month, and by the morning of the 20th only a few patches remained, and these quickly thawed.

Hail

There was no hail observed in Shoreham during March.

Thunder

There was no thunder reported in Shoreham during March.

Wind

The winds during March were fairly evenly distributed, but with a slight bias towards the southeast. The cyclonic nature of the month was responsible for the variability, and generally breezes were only moderate in strength. However, there were exceptions, and at Shoreham Airport  northeasterly gusts of over 30 knots (34 mph) occurred on the evening of the 1st and the morning of the 2nd. Southwesterly gusts exceeded 30 knots (34 mph) on the morning of the 8th, and a northeasterly gust of 33 knots (38 mph) was recorded on the evening of the 19th. 

Fog

No fog was observed from central Shoreham during March.

Statistics for March 2018