March 2010
A warm and sunny late March day along the coast path with views towards Salcombe mouth in south Devon.
A warm and sunny late March day along the coast path with views towards Salcombe mouth in south Devon.
Summary for  March 2010
Mean Max: 10.7ºC (+0.1ºC)
Mean Min: 2.2ºC (-1.4ºC)
Mean: 6.5ºC (-0.6ºC)
     
High Max: 15.1ºC 17th
Low Max: 6.4ºC 7th
High Min: 9.6ºC 20th
Low Min: -5.2ºC 5th
Mean Grass Min: -0.8ºC  
Grass Min: -8.7ºC 5th
     
Rain Total (gauge): 54.5 mm (85%)
Rain Total (tipping bucket): 52.8 mm (82%)
Rain Days >0.2 mm: 12 Days  
Rain Days >1.0 mm: 12 Days  
Max 24 hrs: 10.4 mm 19th
Days without any rain: 19  
     
Air Frost: 9 Days  
Ground Frost: 17 Days  
Snow Falling: 0 Days  
Snow (50%) @ 9am: 0 Days  
Thunder Heard: 0 Days  
Hail <5 mm: 1 Days  
Hail >5 mm: 0 Days  
Fog @ 9am: 1 Days  
     
Total Monthly Sunshine: 155h:37m  
Total Monthly Sunshine: 155.6 Hours  
Most Sunshine in a Day: 11h:02m 8th
Average Daily Sunshine: 05h:01m  
Sunless Days: 3 Days  
Cloudless Days: 5 Days  
Total Possible Sunshine: 368h:56m  
Percentage of Total Sun: 42%  
     
Mean Soil Temp @ 30 cm: 5.4ºC  
Min Soil Temp @ 30 cm: 2.7ºC 7th
Max Soil Temp @ 30 cm: 8.1ºC 30th
Mean Soil Temp @ 100 cm: 5.8ºC  
Min Soil Temp @ 100 cm: 4.7ºC 12th
Max Soil Temp @ 100 cm: 7.6ºC 30th
     
Mean 10 Min Wind >39 mph: 0.00 Days  
N: 4.20 Days  
NE: 3.97 Days  
E: 3.16 Days  
SE: 8.53 Days  
S: 1.71 Days  
SW: 1.11 Days  
W: 3.50 Days  
NW: 2.06 Days  
Calm: 2.76 Days  
Mean Wind: 4.4 mph  
Max Gust: 39 mph 31st
     
Mean Cloud Cover: 64%  
Mean RH @ 9am: 86%  
Rain Duration >0.1mm/hour: 41.8 Hours  
Frost Duration: 76.8 Hours  
Max Frost Duration in a Day: 11.5 Hours 5th
     
Mean Sea Temperature: 7.2ºC  
Normal for Month:    
Max Sea Temperature: 8.4ºC 28th
Min Sea Temperature: 6.3ºC 8th
     
Mean Pressure @ 9am: 1018.7 hPa (+4.2 hPa)
Mean Pressure: 1015.8 hPa (+1.3 hPa)
Max Pressure: 1033.1 hPa 5th
Min Pressure: 983.6 hPa 30th
     
Max Dewpoint: 10.5ºC 20th
Min Dewpoint: -7.6ºC 5th
Mean Dewpoint: 2.0ºC  
     
Max Humidity: 94% 20th
Min Humidity: 41% 5th
Mean Humidity: 77% (-5)

 

A month of two-halves. Dry & sunny then unsettled with rain.

From the 1st to the 17th the weather was settled, dry and very sunny with frequent severe night frosts. Things stayed dry and sunny but temperatures climbed and the frosts disappeared from the 12th onwards.

Coldest March since 2006; dullest March since 2008; wettest March since 2008.
Overall rainfall was drier than normal. No rain until the 18th then rain fell on 12 out of the 14 remaining days.
There was no snow falling or lying on the ground at any point during this month. A high number of air and grass frosts, some of them quite severe.
124 hours of sunshine for the 1st half of the month, compared to only 31 hours for the 2nd half.
Soil temperatures were below normal throughout because of the colder than normal winter.
Winds were dominant from the south-east sector.
Rainfall duration for the whole month was lower than for frosts.
Sea temperatures rose slowly throughout the month but still remained below normal.
Mean pressure was above normal thanks to the anticyclonic, settled weather that dominated the first 18 days of the month.
Dewpoints were below normal due to frequent incursions of very dry and cold, Continental air.
The RH ended up being rather below normal.
Weather Data for Otter Valley, Devon.  March 2010  
  Temp (oC) Hum (RH%) Dewpoint (oC) Wind (mph) Rain Pressure (hPa) Grass Sun  
  Min Max Ave Min Max Ave Min Max Ave Max Ave Run mm Min Max Ave Min Hours Observations
1 -1.7 11.0 4.7 65 92 79 -3.7 6.5 1.4 10 0.9 22 0.0 1004 1015 1009 -5.5 9.8 Sunny intervals all day
2 -3.1 10.8 3.9 60 92 76 -4.8 4.7 0.0 12 1.5 36 0.0 1015 1023 1019 -6.6 7.4 Sunny am, hazy pm
3 3.3 6.9 5.1 47 82 65 -4.3 1.0 -1.7 25 5.5 132 0.0 1015 1023 1019 -2.8 1.7 Cloudy am, sunny ints pm
4 1.1 8.9 5.0 52 85 69 -3.1 1.3 -0.9 21 5.8 139 0.0 1016 1029 1023 -4.4 8.8 Sunny intervals all day
5 -5.2 10.7 2.8 41 89 65 -7.6 1.0 -3.3 12 1.4 34 0.0 1029 1033 1031 -8.7 10.7 Sunny all day
6 -3.4 8.7 2.7 68 91 80 -5.5 3.8 -0.9 14 1.7 42 0.0 1026 1029 1027 -7.1 4.9 Sunny am, cloudy pm
7 -3.5 6.4 1.5 48 82 65 -6.5 -1.2 -3.9 16 3.5 83 0.0 1029 1033 1031 -7.3 10.9 Sunny all day
8 -2.9 7.9 2.5 45 81 63 -7.6 -3.0 -5.3 20 5.1 123 0.0 1026 1031 1028 -3.6 11.0 Sunny all day
9 1.1 9.5 5.3 52 84 68 -3.9 0.4 -1.8 22 4.8 114 0.0 1027 1030 1029 -5.4 7.2 Sunny am, cloudy pm
10 2.4 8.7 5.6 57 78 68 -1.8 0.8 -0.5 22 6.4 154 0.0 1026 1030 1028 -2.5 9.2 Sunny intervals all day
11 0.1 9.6 4.9 51 86 69 -3.6 0.9 -1.4 18 4.6 109 0.0 1023 1027 1025 -4.8 6.8 Sunny intervals all day
12 -2.4 10.8 4.2 61 90 76 -5.4 4.3 -0.6 18 2.6 64 0.0 1022 1027 1024 1.3 1.9 Sunny intervals all day
13 4.4 13.1 8.8 49 79 64 -0.1 3.1 1.5 17 3.6 86 0.0 1027 1032 1029 1.3 10.6 Sunny all day
14 -1.9 12.7 5.4 47 91 69 -4.5 4.3 -0.1 26 3.6 86 0.0 1030 1032 1031 -5.6 9.8 Sunny intervals all day
15 0.3 12.4 6.4 58 91 75 -2.5 6.0 1.8 13 1.3 32 0.0 1027 1032 1029 -4.2 4.1 Sunny am, cloudy pm
16 -3.5 11.8 4.2 61 90 76 -5.9 4.7 -0.6 20 3.0 72 0.0 1023 1028 1025 -6.7 9.5 Sunny all day
17 4.7 15.1 9.9 71 90 81 1.3 9.8 5.6 14 2.8 67 0.0 1020 1023 1022 -0.8 2.5 Sunny intervals all day
18 7.7 12.3 10.0 61 91 76 2.9 8.9 5.9 19 4.3 104 1.0 1009 1021 1015 2.8 0.4 Bright am, drizzle pm
19 4.1 10.8 7.5 89 93 91 1.7 9.3 5.5 25 3.4 83 10.4 1004 1013 1009 -0.8 0.0 Rain intermittent all day
20 9.6 11.9 10.8 86 94 90 5.0 10.5 7.8 19 6.2 161 5.2 1001 1006 1003 8.7 0.3 Drizzle am, bright pm
21 1.1 14.0 7.6 60 92 76 -1.2 7.5 3.2 15 3.1 74 0.0 1007 1020 1013 6.5 7.1 Sunny intervals all day
22 7.1 11.1 9.1 76 91 84 0.9 8.2 4.6 30 5.5 131 1.3 1015 1020 1017 4.1 3.0 Drizzle am, bright pm
23 0.1 9.9 5.0 84 93 89 -1.7 8.4 3.4 23 4.3 103 4.7 1010 1019 1014 -2.8 0.0 Rain intermittent all day
24 8.1 11.3 9.7 88 93 91 6.3 9.5 7.9 18 4.7 103 2.9 1001 1010 1005 6.5 0.6 Sunny ints am, drizzle pm
25 7.1 10.2 8.7 86 92 89 4.4 8.4 6.4 19 3.8 90 8.1 993 1001 997 4.6 0.4 Sunny intervals am, rain pm
26 6.7 11.6 9.2 77 92 85 3.4 7.6 5.5 30 8.6 207 2.6 996 999 997 2.8 4.1 Sun and showers all day
27 5.8 13.2 9.5 63 92 78 3.9 7.8 5.9 20 4.3 104 0.0 998 1011 1005 2.7 5.2 Sunny intervals all day
28 4.4 13.6 9.0 67 90 79 2.0 7.7 4.9 12 1.9 46 3.6 1004 1011 1008 0.7 2.6 Sunny ints am, cloudy pm
29 8.8 10.8 9.8 88 92 90 6.1 8.9 7.5 22 5.6 135 4.9 991 1004 997 7.4 0.0 Cloudy am, rain pm
30 5.8 9.2 7.5 67 92 80 1.4 7.5 4.5 33 8.5 203 8.1 984 991 987 4.8 3.1 Rain am, sun & showers pm
31 2.7 7.3 5.0 60 88 74 -1.0 2.1 0.6 39 13.0 316 7.8 985 1004 994 1.3 2.2 Rain am, hail showers pm
2.2 10.7 6.5 64 89 77 -1.1 5.2 2.0 20 4.4 3252 52.8 1012 1019 1016 -0.8 155.61  

Graphs for March 2010
Figure 1. Temperature and Rainfall for March 2010.
Figure 2. Sunshine, air pressure and mean wind speed for March 2010.
Figure 3. Wind direction for March 2010.
Figure 4. Soil & sea surface temperature (SST) for Lyme Bay for March 2010.
Figure 5. Wind run, maximum gusts and mean pressure for March 2010.