Very Mild and Wet, then Dry

Temperatures

The average maximum temperature during March 2019 in Shoreham was 12.5 Celsius (55F), and that was almost 3 degree Celsius (5F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 6.1 Celsius (43F), and that was  close to 1.5  degree Celsius (2.5F) above the March normal. Overall. it appears to have been the mildest March in the area for at least 50 years.   

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 17.4 Celsius (63F) on the 30th, and there were 3 other days with the temperature rising above 15 Celsius (59F). The month was persistently mild with only 6 days having maxima below 11 Celsius (52F) and just 1 of these days had a high below 10 Celsius (50F). That day was the 12th when 9.8 Celsius (50F) was recorded.

There were no particularly mild nights during March, but the temperature on the 3rd only fell to 10.1 Celsius (50F) and there were a further 4 nights when the temperature stayed above 9 Celsius (48F). The mildest nights generally occurred during the first half of March with  only 4 of the 12 nights with minima below 5 Celsius (41F) occurring before mid month. However, the 4 coldest nights, with minima below 3 Celsius (37F),  were equally divided into the 2 halves of March.  The lowest temperatures were 1.9 Celsius (36F) on the 5th and 1.4 Celsius (34F) on the 26th. 

The sea temperature slowly rose from 8 Celsius (46F) at the beginning of March to 10 Celsius (50F) by the end of the month.

Frost

There were no air frosts during  March but 8 grass frosts occurred.  Only 2 grass frosts occurred before mid month, but 3 consecutive grass frosts were recorded between the 24th and 26th. The frosts were slight with only 4 nights having ground temperatures below minus 2 Celsius (28F).  The lowest value was minus 2.8 Celsius (27F) occurring on both the 5th and 26th.    

Rain

There were  44.0  millimetres (1.7 ins.) of rain during March and that was very close to the monthly average. There were 15 days of measurable rain, and that was around 1 day above normal for March. There were no completely dry days between the 1st and 19th, although only a trace of rain was measured on the 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th.  The heaviest rain occurred early in the month with 6.2 millimetres (0.25 ins.) recorded on the 2nd, and a further 7.2 millimetres (0.3 ins.) fell on the 3rd. Over 4 millimetres (0.2 ins.) occurred on the 5th but then rainfall became more sporadic. On the 9th there were 7.0 millimetres (0.3 ins.) of rain with 6.2 millimetres (0.25 ins.) on the 12th. The last measurable rain of the month was on the 18th when 4.4 millimetres (0.17 ins.) fell.

Hail

There was no hail observed in this part of Shoreham during  March.

Thunder

There was thunder and lightning to the southeast at ten minutes past midnight on the 4th.

Snow

There was no sleet or snow obsereved in Shoreham during March.   

Wind

Pressure was higher than normal again during March, but the first half of the month was often windy. On most days the wind was predominantly from the southwest, with only a few breezes from a northeast or southeasterly quadrant. At Shoreham Airport southwesterly gusts exceeded 30 knots (34 mph) for much of the day on the 3rd, peaking at 38 knots (43 mph) in the early evening.  Late on the afternoon of the 4th, west to northwesterly gusts peaked at 41 knots (47 mph). The 7th was windy all day and southwesterly gusts reached 39 knots (44 mph) in the afternoon. The following day was windy in the evening with a gust of 36 knots (41 mph) recorded just before midnight. risk westerly winds gave a gust of 34 knots (39 mph) on the afternoon of the 9th, but then the 10th was very windy with 52 knots (59 mph)  from the west measured late in the morning.  The 12th was windy again with 42 knots (48 mph)  from the southwest early in the afternoon.  The 13th and 14th stayed windy with 42 knots (48 mph) occurring again on the morning of the 14th. There was no let up on the 15th and 16th with regular gusts above 30 knots (34 mph) and a gust of 44 knots (50 mph) on the evening of the 16th. This brought an end to the windy weather and there were no further gust above 30 knots (34 mph) during the remainder of the month.     

Fog

There was no fog observed in this part of Shoreham during March.

Statistics for March 2019